The Sinister Game
by Teriyaki Chicken
Summary: Full Metal Panic. Final Chapter. Kaname and Sousuke fight for their future against a seemingly invincible foe... But, then, Kaname discovers a way to win.
1. Chapter One: Et tu?

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Panic! or anything related to the story/franchise. So as to fall into a lovely little loophole, I hereby declare this work a parody.

****

Chapter One: "Et Tu?"

Not long after the incident involving a terrorists boarding and taking control (if only briefly) of the Tuatha De Daanan, Mithril high command decided to "re-evaluate and analyze" the personnel aboard the submarine.

Their method of doing this was to send a fellow by the name of Chevello Adelino to the vessel and have him follow around the Captain. This did not sit well with the crew.

Adelino did indeed follow around the Captain. Apparently, the protocol for running a sub had changed without anyone informing Tessa (or, rather, she had known but her requests for a copy of the new protocol was ignored) and Adelino went out of his way to correct her.

As most of the crew soon learned, Adelino was a wretched, arrogant and highly critical man. Several times he reduced Tessa to tears with his criticism, routinely insulting her.

The rest of the crew didn't much like this. After one particularly vile tongue lashing that had Tessa retiring to her chambers because "she felt light headed", Adelino was jumped by several technicians on his way to his own quarters and beaten for a good minute before several officers decided to intervene. The truth of the matter was, they had been watching from a safe distance for several seconds while they placed bets on how many bruises the bastard would end up with. 

One would think that Adelino would ease up and be a little nicer. But, then, one would be wrong. If anything, Adelino was worse. He privately held Tessa responsible for the incident and took out his anger on her. He wondered aloud whether or not Tessa had any real control over her crew and if such a person was really competent to be an officer, let alone captain of a submarine.

It was for these reasons that Melissa Mao and her squad sat in Andelino's officer, glaring at him as he briefed them on their upcoming mission.

"As you certainly know, North Korea is restarting their nuclear weapons program with the intention of having fully working weapons of mass destruction by this time next year. The South Korean military has received intelligence that a small coastal facility is one of the key development centers for the program. Since any reconnaissance attempted by South Korean or American forces could easily start a war, Seoul has asked us to scout the location for them.

"You will go ashore at 0300 hours and go West for three kilometers. Once you come upon the facility, you are to take photographs of the buildings outlined in this folder-" Adelino gestured to the vanilla folder laying on his desk- "as well as any unusual happenings. Any questions so far?"

Melissa stood up.

"Sir, Major Kalinin generally-"

"Ah, yes…" said Andelino, leaning back in his chair. "Major Kalinin made some remarks to me in private about my… actions and conduct concerning Captain Tesstarosa… which were quite inappropriate. He has been relieved from his duty for the time being. Moreover, High Command has asked that I brief you for this mission personally."

Melissa nodded. "Understood, sir."

"Excellent… Now…"

~

"I hate that bastard!" yelled Melissa, smashing her fist into the wall and actually making a dent in the metal.

"Maybe he'll have a little accident on the stairs…" murmured Kurtz, cracking his knuckles. Only Sousuke remained silent. Picking up on this, Kutrz glanced sideways at his comrade.

"What say you and I beat the shit out of the dickhead and toss him overboard?"

Sousuke was still silent, as though focused on something at the end of the hall.

"Eh! Sousuke!" Kurtz finally elbowed the young man hard in the gut. Sousuke groaned and glared at Kurtz.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" demanded Kurtz. Before Sousuke could give any explanation, Melissa stepped in.

"Don't you get it? After this mission, we'll be on leave for awhile… And we're close enough to Japan…"

Understanding seemed to dawn on Kurtz. His face broke into a grin and he cheerily tossed his arm around Sousuke.

"Gonna' go see your one true love?"

Sousuke stared at the other man blanky. "My what?"

"Kaname, you idiot!"

"Oh."

Kurtz scowled, now annoyed. "You're going to see Kaname while you're on leave, aren't you?"

Sousuke shrugged, as though it were none of his concern. "Maybe."

"Maybe? If you don't, some other guy'll snatch her up. Take my advice: Grab onto Kaname and don't let go."

In actuality, Sousuke had been thinking about what to do with his leave. His first idea was fishing. Then, he considered buying some military technical manuals and then going fishing. Then, the idea of going to Japan, buying some military technical manuals and taking Kaname fishing came to him. To Sousuke, it was essentially making a good thing much, much better.

Of course, he would have to take Kaname out to dinner. It made no difference to Sousuke where he ate or what he ate but he assumed that Kaname wasn't the same and would want a nice meal at a nice restaurant. Which, the young soldier figured, would cost a nice sum. That wasn't a problem, he decided, however, because other than fishing, books and Kaname, Sousuke had nothing else to spend his salary on.

"You know," sayd Melissa thoughtfully, bringing Sousuke back to reality. "I'm a bit worried about Tessa. She's taking what Andelino says pretty seriously."

Kurtz nodded in agreement. "She's pretty sensitive sometimes… You know, I bet that bastard's figured that out and he's taking advantage of it. I bet the prick gets off on seeing her cry…"

"You know what'd cheer her up?" Melissa said suddenly. She spun around, grinning widely at Sousuke. "If her prince paid her a visit."

"You know what'd cheer her up even more?" said Kurtz enthusiastically.

"What?"

"If her prince visited her and brought Andelino's head with him!"

~

The small craft sloshed around unsteadily in the raging water as it approached the shore.

"Why couldn't we launch in Arm Slaves, dammit…" hissed Kurtz. He was clinging to Melissa for dear life who in turn had linked her arm with Sousuke's who was gripping the side of the boat for all he was worth.

"'The introduction of Mithril Arm Slaves into North Korean waters might be seen as an act of war,'" quoted Melissa, her teeth grinding together. "I don't trust any of this. Why no Arm Slaves? They would never see a thing…"

Sousuke made a strange sound that made both of them turn their heads in his direction. He was turning green. He discreetly put his head over the edge of the boat, threw up, let the water wash his face and pulled his head back. His expression never changed. Kurtz stared at him with a mixture of disgust and respect.

"No matter how long I know you, I'll never understand you, Sousuke!" he yelled over the raging waves. If Sousuke heard, he gave no sign. Instead, he remained focused on the shore they were closing in on.

~

Things did not go as planned.

By the time the trio hit the shore, they were exhausted, soaked and freezing. Nonetheless, they persevered and continued on with the mission.

The beach ran into a large forested area and it was deep within this area that the facility was supposed to have been. The soldiers trooped for half an hour through the woods, careful not to make too much noise.

When they finally reached the spot where their target was supposed to have been, they found not a group of buildings… But rubble. Three or four acres of rubble. If there had been some sort of research facility there, the North Koreans had done a good job of tearing it down.

"Damn…" muttered Kurtz as he looked over the rubble.

Nobody said anything more for quite some time. Sousuke checked and re-checked the coordinates. They were in the right place. They were in the middle of the little icon on the map that said "Weapons Facility." Only, in real life, there was just an awfully big pile of rubble.

A sort of thwapping noise broke the silence. At first, it was so faint that no one paid it any mind, but as the noise got louder and closer, it became clear that a helicopter was rapidly approaching them.

It came out of the tops of the trees like a mythical dragon emerging from the ocean. The Mithril soldiers took but one look at the dragon and took off into the forest.

The helicopter hovered over the site, finally landing in the center. The side doors opened and out trooped six soldiers, assault rifles in hand. The realization dawned on Kurtz, Sousuke and Melissa that they had no doubt been spotted.

Slowly and cautiously, the Korean soldiers moved forward, scanning the area. Sousuke had, at the last moment, climbed a tree and was now crouched on a branch, shielding himself with a branch and keeping his submachine gun trained on the soldiers as they entered the woods.

Kurtz was lying prone, half in a bush, half behind a tree. The Koreans passed right by him and he remained still, like some sort of wax statue.

Melissa had hid herself behind a tree. In the confusion of the helicopters arrival, she had dropped her rifle. Like Kurtz, she kept very still as the Koreans passed by, not two feet away from the officer.

Then, a most inconvenient thing happened. A bird, possibly a crow, gave a loud, tortured cry. The last soldier to have come in the forest, now at the end of the little line he and his comrades had formed, stopped and looked behind him. He found himself looking directly at a woman in combat fatigues, holding a gun to her chest.

Before the soldier could raise his rifle, alert his friends or even fully process the information, Melissa raised her gun and fired once.

The Korean soldier's face burst apart. The others turned just in time to see Melissa holding the smoking gun and their comrade's body falling. As he hit the ground, all hell broke loose.

The soldier closest to the dead one let loose. The AK-47 sprayed bullets through the forest, tearing apart the tree that Melissa had been hiding behind but not the younger officer herself. She had dove out of the way and fired again, hitting the poor soldier in the arm twice. He dropped his rifle and grabbed his arm and, seemingly out of nowhere, Kurtz stood up, took aim and dropped the second Korean soldier.

By now, the four remaining North Koreans had a vague idea as to what was going on and had opened fire. Sousuke dropped down out of his tree and gracefully landed in a crouching position like a cat. He aimed and squeezed the trigger and his MP-5 spat bullets into the closest soldier. As flowers of blood bloomed on his chest and he fell, another turned, saw Sousuke and fired.

The teenager wasn't fast enough to get out of the line of fire and two bullets struck him in the side, in between the plates of kevlar in his vest. Sousuke tumbled to the ground and gave a hoarse cry of pain. Kurtz quickly avenged his comrade by making sure that the offending Korean soldier would never be able to wear a hat properly ever again.

Melissa quickly dispatched two more soldiers who were distracted by Sousuke and the final one fell from a well-placed rifle shot, courtesy of one Kurtz Webber.

As the dust cleared, the three quietly regrouped.

"How bad, Sousuke?" hissed Kurtz quickly. Sousuke leaned against a tree and put a hand over the wound.

"Not bad. No arteries or vital organs were hit." He took his hand away as Melissa wrapped his midsection tightly with bandage tape.

"There," she said a bit grimly. "That should hold while we're dry but I doubt it'll fare very well in water…"

With Kurtz' arm around Sousuke and him leaning slightly on the other man, they began their way towards the shore. Melissa had holstered her pistol and held Kurtz's rifle. The forest was totally silent as they hobbled along.

Finally, they reached the beach. Kurtz dropped to his knees and brought Sousuke down with him. Melissa glared at both of them

"C'mon. This isn't the time to be sitting on your asses," she said, as though scolding little children.

"Sis, let up…" groaned Kurtz as he lay down on the sand. "I don't think those guys got a chance to radio back to headquarters or anything…"

"But…"

As Melissa and Kurtz argued, Sousuke checked his submachine gun. He made sure it hadn't been clogged with sand or dirt or what have you. As he began taking apart the weapon, he looked up suddenly.

"The helicopter," was all Sousuke had to say. As if on cue, the terrible chopping noise returned.

"Aww… shit…" cursed Melissa. She drew his pistol, though it would do no good and looked back towards the forest. "If we can get in there again…"

The guns of the helicopter started rattling and bullets began raining down around them, kicking up great clouds of sand. The three made a panicked dash for the woods, stumbling and tripping over their own feet.

As he ran, Sousuke pointed his gun at helicopter, tilted it up to give it more range and fired. He didn't expect it to do anything but, it was better than doing nothing, he reasoned.

Only, it _did_ do something. Several bullets peppered the rockets on the side of the chopper and they went up. The resulting explosion, though small, knocked the helicopter off course and it veered around widely.

Melissa stopped running and grabbed Kurtz. Thrusting his rifle into his hands, she looked at him seriously.

"Can you pull off a miracle?!" she demanded.

Without answering, Kurtz calmly cocked his gun, raised it and aimed. He zeroed in on the pilot of the helicopter and fired. The glass surrounding the cockpit shattered and the pilot slumped over, dead.

Without someone controlling it, the helicopter flew around sporadically before finally crashing into the shore.

The three soldiers stood silently as they watched the aircraft make a less than graceful landing, the rotors still spinning. Suddenly, Melissa gave a great, triumphant whoop. Tossing her arms around Kurtz, she kissed his cheek, something she would later deny having done.

"You did it, you dick head!" she yelled happily. Kurtz grinned stupidly and tried to kiss Melissa back. Sousuke smiled slightly and trotted over to the helicopter. He climbed into the cockpit, dumped the body out and shut the thing down. As he got out, he was joined by Kurtz and Melissa, both red faced.

"It doesn't appear to be badly damaged. As far as I can tell-" Sousuke leaned into the cockpit- "it has sufficient fuel to get into a friendly nation.

Kurtz glanced at the body of the pilot, sprawled lewdly on the ground. Without another thought, he joined Sousuke in the cockpit and started cleaning out the glass.

~

"What now?"

They were flying over the Sea of Japan. The helicopter turned out to be quite a hardy piece of equipment and managed to fly almost perfectly.

"Whaddya' mean, Sis?" Kurtz asked, with a questioning glance.

"I mean…" Melissa said carefully. "I've thought this all through. I think we were set up."

"Set up?" asked Sousuke, as though he didn't really understand the words, which he very well may not have.

"There's no way Mithril couldn't have known that the facility had been destroyed. With satellites and everything… And that bastard Andelino briefed us on it."

Neither Sousuke nor Kurtz said anything for several moments. Then, finally, Sousuke spoke.

"Although it seems unlikely that Mithril would betray us, the evidence is disturbing. It would also explain why we weren't allowed to bring Arm Slaves."

Melissa nodded with a kind of grim triumph. "Exactly."

"But, why would they want us dead?" wondered Kurtz. He leaned back in his chair and looked out through one of the broken windows.

"Perhaps they anticipated us getting in the way of something?" suggested Sousuke.

All three of them bowed their heads in deep thought. Finally, Melissa, easily the brightest of the group, looked up.

"I bet they're going to try and take over the Tuatha De Daanan. That is, find Tessa 'unfit' to command it and try to take it away from her. Maybe they were afraid of a mutiny?"

Kurtz and Sousuke both looked grim.

"Well, we can't go back, then," Kurtz said slowly. "So, what now?"

"I've got family in the US I can stay with," said Melissa. Kurtz looked at her a bit strangely.

"Err… Would you mind if I crashed with you? I'm not on speaking terms with my dad…" said Kurtz uneasily. Melissa muttered something about him being useless but eventually gave in.

"What about you, Sousuke? Do you have a place to stay?" asked Melissa in an almost (keyword: almost) motherly way.

Sousuke still had his head bowed, deep in thought.

"There is someone…" he said quietly.

"Who?" prodded Melissa.

Kurtz laughed. "Who else?"

~

Somewhere in Tokyo, Kaname Chidori was arriving home from school. As she kicked off her shoes, she stretched and groaned loudly.

"Ugh… School goes so long these days."

Suddenly, without warning, she sneezed. Rubbing her nose, Kaname sniffled.

"Someone must be talking about me…"

Paying it no mind, she went to her room and worked on her homework for an hour. Then, she made herself dinner and watched TV. At 7 o'clock, as she was tidying up her little apartment, the doorbell rang.

"Well, I wonder who that is?" Kaname asked her self as she put a pile of books down and reached for the door.

~

"Yes… Yes… Tell Andelino it was a job well done… No, it's quite all right… Thank you…"

It was evening in Rome. The sun was quickly disappearing over the horizon and the fading light cast shadows through the small office, where, sitting at a desk, was a man, perhaps forty, pouring over some documents on his computer. And out of the shadows stepped a tall, scarred man of Asian descent.

"Good evening, Padre…" purred the man. "Padre" at the desk jumped and looked up suddenly.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" He reached for the security buzzer.

"I've already cut the wires. Don't bother. I'm not here to hurt you."

Padre seemed to relax slightly, partly because his other hand had found the pistol in his pocket.

"Alright but who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"Gauron. I would expect the supreme commander of Mithril would have heard of me…"

Padre's eyes narrowed to slits. "Overlooking the fact that you should be dead many times over… What do you want?"

"I want," said Gauron coolly. "To talk about Kashim."

"I don't know anyone by the name of 'Kashim.'"

"You know by the name Sagara Sousuke."

Padre was very quiet. Finally, he said, "What of him?"  
Gauron leaned on the desk till he was face to face with Padre.

"Killing your own is a bad business practice, isn't it?"

"What's it to you?" retorted Padre. He cocked the gun.

"I'm just commenting. You see, Kashim isn't dead. But, I wonder, why would you want him dead?"

"Not dead? What do you mean?" Padre was a bit anxious now. He opened a draw, dug around a bit, and found a small orange bottle of pills. He tossed two into his mouth, swallowed and calmed down. Gauron waited patiently while he did this.

"Kashim lives. You may not believe me now but he escaped your trap. And within the next few weeks, you will realize I speak the truth. But… Why would you want him dead?"

Padre smiled coolly. He pulled the pistol out of his pocket and twirled it around his finger like a cowboy absentmindedly.

"It was necessary. There were things he would've gotten in the way of…"

Gauron smiled. "I see." He didn't press the matter.

"Now, if you would be so kind as to leave…" continued Padre. "Or should I use a little persuasion?" He pointed the gun straight at Gauron who continued to smile.

"Try to understand… Padre… Holy Father…" Gauron stood to his full height and walked lazily over to a bookshelf. He pulled one of the volumes off and flipped it open.

"Shakespeare. Et tu, Brutus?"

When Padre didn't say anything, Gauron snapped the book closed.

"Kashim is mine. He's my prey. And if anyone else tries to hurt him… I become most agitated. Do you understand now?"

Padre shrugged. "Not really. But, frankly, I don't give a damn. So, if you'd please leave…"

Gauron gave an overly dramatic sigh.

"Ciao, then, Holy Father. But, please, realize this…"

Gauron give this wicked, twisted smile and his eyes flashed. Padre felt shivers go down his spine as he looked at the almost inhuman face grinning back at him, distorted by the shadows.

"You will regret this. No matter how much you think you planned this… If you hurt Kashim, not only will I take my revenge, but so shall the Whispered. And their wrath shall be ten thousand times greater than mine."

And with that, Gauron disappeared into the shadows.

Padre sighed. "What a nut."

End of Chapter One.

Notes: Other than characterization, which I've been trying hard to get right for this, I'm worried about the ranks. I have no understand of military ranks at all, US, Japanese or otherwise. So, until I figure it out, I'll use my best judgement.


	2. Chapter Two: Let Slip the Dogs of War

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Full Metal Panic. This is a parody. I am allowed to write it because of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which still exists, despite the efforts of the Department of Homeland Security.

Chapter Two: Let Slip the Dogs of War

Tessa's head was buried in her arms. The sleeves of her uniform were soaked through with tears. Every few seconds, her body shivered or quaked, threatening to spill over into another crying session.

Andelino informed her of the mission's failure personally. He took a sort of perverse enjoyment in informing her of the deaths of her soldiers. She had been opposed to the mission from the beginning and Andelino assured her that, if her men (and women) were even half-competent, they would do well. It was his conclusion, then, that not only was she incompetent but so were her troops.

Fortunately, he hadn't known of her feelings for Sousuke. Had he, Andelino would've no doubt been even more vicious.

That little bit did little to console Tessa. From the second he told her that the mission was a total failure and that the team had been lost, she was in a dazed state. Her mind was still wrapping itself around the fact that she would never see Sousuke again. She barely heard Andelino's report on the matter and only just registered the fact that he wanted her to meet him on the bridge at noon to discuss something.

After he had left, Tessa stared at the door for about a minute before breaking down and sobbing.

Tessa had always assumed that Sousuke would be there, like some sort of invincible, avenging angel. She had seen him survive so much that it was obvious that he had to be immortal. The immortal god of war. Only, he wasn't. He was a mortal, just like everyone else in the world and had made this much clear.

As the young captain wept, her mind ran over all the fantasies she had had about the two. Most were just the mindless daydreams of a bored teenage girl. They usually involved the two having a secret but passionate affair. Or maybe Tessa was kidnapped by Gauron (her own personal bogeyman) and, just as he was about to steal her virtue, Sousuke bursts into the room, dispatches Gauron with a few choice hand-to-hand combat moves (ignoring the fact that Gauron outweighed Sousuke by at least 20 kg) and then whisking her away. Sometimes, she gave up her virginity to Sousuke right then and there. It depended on her mood.

Of course, Tessa never expected any of that to happen. Despite everything that had happened, Sousuke still remained distant. Tessa was trying to work up the courage to go on the offensive. Even if the dense young soldier felt more towards Kaname than her (and Tessa was almost certain he did, even though she was loathe to admit it to herself), he was indefinitely separated from the Japanese girl. Plus, Kaname professed to think of Sousuke as little more than a good friend. Tessa had her doubts about this but who was she to aid her enemy?

Perhaps, she sometimes mused, that was her problem. She thought of love in the same way she thought of war. There were objectives to be taken and strategies were the tools one used to gain those objectives. Of course, one had to be mindful that those strategies didn't involve too many losses. However, there were such things as "acceptable losses."

Sousuke was the primary objective. Tessa's strategies involved spending more time with him when she could, talking very casually to him, getting his opinion on everything from operations to what kind of shoes she should wear (Sousuke's Answer: The black ones. Because they were more cost effective). The possible losses were things like rejection and embarrassment. Of course, a little embarrassment was all right if Sousuke became hers…

But, all of this disappeared one afternoon. Tessa would never be able to try out her tactics on Sousuke. She would never do anything with him again. He was dead and that was all there was to it, right?

Trying to look at it logically didn't help things at all. If anything, it made it hurt more. Briefly, Tessa wondered how Kaname would take it if she found out. Would she cry too? Probably. Would she admit how she really felt about him? Maybe. 

And what about Kurtz and Melissa? The realization that they were dead too took the tears from "year flooding of the Nile" to "El Nino meets the Yangtze." If it were just Sousuke, she could at least get some comfort from Melissa and Kurtz. She could get a hug from Melissa and Kurtz would console her best he could. She could hear his voice in her head. "Never did such a dense idiot have so many people cry over him without realizing it!"

But they were gone too. And that's all there was too it.

Half an hour after Andelino had left, the door opened again. Tessa didn't even bother to look up. Kalinin slipped in quickly and closed the door quietly. Around his arm was tied a black band.

"Captain."

Tessa swallowed hard and looked up at the Major. He stood there rigidly, like a statue. His expression surprised her. It was one of sympathy, yes, but it also bore anger and cold determination.

"There's something I would like to speak to you about before you report to the bridge at noon."

Tessa glanced at the wall clock quickly. It was 11:43. Seventeen minutes.

Kalinin stepped forward and bowed down so that his face and Tessa's were very close.

"Andelino means to strip you of your command at noon. He was given the power by High Command earlier this morning."

Tessa fought the urge to start crying again. Instead, she started hiccuping. 

"We… The crew that is… Have found that we disagree with his actions. Therefore…" The Russian cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Anyone wearing the black band is your friend." He pointed to the cloth around his arm. "So far, we believe that roughly 95% of the crew are loyal to you. Mardukas has already passed out the bands."

Tessa looked at Kalinin with wide eyes. "Do you mean…?"

"Yes. We're mutinying. After we make sure we have control of the ship, we'll be getting you to safety. Mithril has plans for you. As far as we can tell, it has something to do with your being a Whispered."

Tessa closed her eyes, digesting the information. Kalinin felt honest to god sympathy for her. She was the closest thing to a daughter he had ever had. Even though he didn't let on much, it tore his heart apart to see her crying. It was at that moment that Kalinin changed one minor aspect of his plan…

"Alright. What will I have to do?"

"Just bring your sidearm to the bridge, Captain. We'll take care of the rest."

Kalinin straightened up, saluted and turned to go. He hesitated and looked over his shoulder back at her.

"About the mission."

Tessa didn't say anything.

"Our satellites found no bodies."

Tessa's heart skipped a beat and Kalinin left.

The next seventeen minutes lasted forever.

~

"What is it that you wanted to talk to me about, Major?"

Tessa arrived on the bridge, her pistol hidden away in her uniform. She was pleased when she realized that every single person present was wearing the black band, save Andelino. He was sitting in the captain's chair. _Her_ chair.

"Miss Testarossa…" The Italian smiled like a fox cornering a rabbit as he stood. "I'll be brief. High Command has deemed you unfit to command this vessel and as of 12 o'clock today, you are relieved of your duties and ordered to come with me to Mithril Headquarters."

An awkward silence settled over the bridge. Andelino was looking quite nervous all of sudden. When Tessa didn't respond and just stared at one of the display screens, Andelino started fidgeting. Finally, he took a piece of paper from the armrest of the chair and thrust it out towards her.

"If you'll sign this then-"

There was a sudden, distinct clicking noise. Andelino's hand flew to his wait, pulled his pistol and was up at Tessa's face in a flash. He looked around wildly.

"Who was that?" he demanded, anger and fear taking control of him. The bridge crew just stared back at him. 

"What was it?!" Andelino was all but screaming now. It was becoming more and more obvious that something was up and he was severely outnumbered.

"Major Andelino."

And there was Kalinin at the entrance to the bridge. In an instant, he was next to them.

"I would holster that pistol if I were you, Major." Kalinin was totally calm. Tessa looked at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled very slightly.

"You have no authority, Andrei," spat Andelino.

"I fail to see how that affects anything."

"Stand down, you bastard…" hissed Andelino. Several of the bridge crew had drawn their own guns. "Or I'll kill her. We can still use her if she's dead, you know."

Kalinin's eyes bored into Andelino's face. The two men were having the mother of all staring matches. Andelino blinked first.

It happened in a blur. Kalinin checked Andelino, sending the two men to the ground. The pistol went off but by then, it was pointed at the ceiling. Kalinin was on top of Andelino and his right fist was smashing into the Italian's face at an incredible rate. 

And then, it was over. Just as soon as it had started, the fight was over. Andelino lay on the ground, his face little more than bloody mush. He wasn't breathing.

Kalinin stood up, a satisfied look on his face. Tessa was staring at him, most surprised.

"When I was in the army, I taught Sambo and boxing," he explained. That was the aspect of his plan that he had changed: Instead of just beating Andelino to a bloody pulp or possibly dislocating some limbs, Kalinin decided to kill him. It might not have been the best course of action but he had put up with the bastard making his "daughter" cry for long enough.

He pulled out a cell phone, dialed a number quickly and put it to his ear.

"We're finished. We're bringing the Captain to the hangar. Be ready for us there."

As he folded up the phone, Kalinin looked around at the assembled crew.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we shall be escorting the Captain to the hangar. We will be required to fire upon our former comrades. If you believe that you may hesitate, then I ask that you remain here."

He put his hand on Tessa's shoulder and led her out of the bridge. Nobody stayed behind.

~

"Chidori."

There in the doorway stood Sousuke. He wasn't wearing his military uniform now did he wear school clothes. He wore a pair a cheap slacks, a cheap button up shirt and a heavy trench coat that made him look like a gangster or a pervert.

The first thought that hit Kaname was something along the lines of "What the hell is he doing here?" The second thought was very close to "Something very bad must have happened." The third and final thought was "I should say something."

"Yo, Sousuke."

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

And that's how Sagara Sousuke literally walked back into Chidori Kaname's life.

"Are you hungry?" Kaname asked. She was in a sort of shocked state. She was bursting with questions- Why was he here? Did something happen? Was he in trouble?

Sousuke had knelt down to take off his boots. Without looking up, he replied.

"Yes. I haven't eaten since this morning. It's it a problem, though, I'll go out to find something."

"Of course it's not a problem. I can't honestly refuse to feed you, can I?" asked Kaname, with a grin. Sousuke seemed relaxed. Maybe he was just visiting her on leave? Yes, she told herself. That had to be it.

Kaname had him sit down on her couch and went off to the kitchen. When she came back, she had a bowl of noodles, an apple and a can of soda for him.

Sousuke bowed his head. "Thank you. I am very grateful," he said respectfully.

"Come on! Don't be like that! What're friends for?" said Kaname, a bit too loud. The suspicion that something was very wrong was creeping back into her mind.

"Sorry."

And he began to eat. Kaname watched him for a second before shrugging and sitting down next to him. She put her feet up and flipped on the evening news.

"…for those of you just joining us, our top story today is the failed special forces mission in North Korea…"

Sousuke made some sort of grunt but didn't look up from his noodles.

"Pyongyang has just released a report claiming that a reconnaissance mission was attempted by either South Korean or American forces this morning. A brief but fierce fight ensued which ended in the deaths of six North Korean soldiers and the loss of one helicopter. According to the report, the bodies of the special forces soldiers were washed into the sea and have not yet been found. Sources say that-"

And then Kaname changed that channel.

"It's pretty depressing, huh?" she said, as a soap opera came on. They watched it in silence. The main character was a girl from Hokkaido who had come to Tokyo to go to college. After some mishaps, she managed to get a job at the department store run by the father of a handsome and flirtatious classmate. Soon, she's pursuing him while being pursued by an equally handsome Yakuza agent who carries with him an air of mystery and danger.

Sousuke became quite interested in the plot, giving small gasps at the right moments and murmuring to himself at the especially emotional moments. Kaname had seen the episode before and knew full well that the girl ended up with the Yakuza man (who renounces his life of crime to be with her) after it's revealed the other guy is a ruthless playboy and a rapist.

As the ending credits rolled, Sousuke turned to Kaname.

"Is there another episode after this?" the young soldier asked hopefully. Kaname stared at him for a second before shaking her head.

"No. Only one episode a night."

Sousuke was obviously disappointed. He watched the game show that came on again in silence. After awhile, Kaname cleared away the dishes, made some coffee and sat down next to Sousuke again.

"So… How've you been, Sousuke?" she said, carefully beginning to pry for details.

"Fine."

"What about Kurtz, Melissa and Tessa?"

"Fine."

"What brings you here?"  
"I'm on leave."

"Oh."

They sat in silence for another minute. This time, strangely enough, it was Sousuke who spoke first.

"Is it alright if I stay here for awhile?"

Kaname looked at him a bit oddly.

"Of course… But how long is 'awhile'? How long do you have leave for?"

Sousuke didn't say anything for another few seconds. Then…

"Indefinitely. I'll be no trouble. I'll stay out of your way and if you want, I can get a job to pay for my room and board."

Kaname just stared at Sousuke. He was totally serious. She couldn't help it. She broke into laughter.

Sousuke felt his cheeks warm and he stared in amazement as Kaname, who was desperately trying to stifle her giggles, going as far to clamp her hands over her mouth.

"Was something I said funny?" the utterly confused Sousuke asked.

Finally, Kaname forced herself to stop laughing. She smiled gently at the young man and reached out, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"You didn't think I'd make you pay to stay here, did you?"

"I was under the impression that one pays for room and board."

"Not when you're staying with friends!" said Kaname, still grinning. "And we are friends, aren't we?"

Sousuke nodded.

"You are one of the only friends I have," he said solemnly. The edges of Kaname's smile faltered a bit.

"Don't worry… As long as you don't try anything perverted… But that's asking too much of you, isn't it?"

"No! Of course not! Nothing perverted!"

Kaname closed her eyes and bowed her head. She took her hand off of Sousuke's shoulder and took his hand in hers.

"I trust you. I like having you here. It's no problem."

Much to Kaname's surprise (and to Sousuke's), he squeezed her hand.

There was another silence between the two of them. The two teenagers stayed like that for nearly a moment. Then…

"Sousuke, I-"

"Chidori." Sousuke's voice seemed full of determination. He took her hand in both of his and looked intently into her eyes.

"Can I use your bathroom?"

~

Half an hour later, Kaname had changed into her pajamas. The next day was the last day of school before vacation and she had to be there early to help with the last meeting of the student council. As she walked by the bathroom, she glanced worriedly at the door.

"He's been in there a while…" she muttered to herself. "He probably hurt himself… The clumsy idiot." Kaname put her ear up against the door. At the moment, it opened a crack and Sousuke's left eye peeked out.

"Oh. Chidori."

"Sousuke? Are you alright?"

"Err… Fine," the young man said nervously. "Do you have any bandages?"

Great, Kaname thought to herself. He tried to shave.

"There should be some bandaids in there… You could use toilet paper too."

Sousuke's eye stared at her strangely.

"I don't believe those will be… sufficient."

"Oh, c'mon, you can't have cut yourself that badly…" Kaname forced the door opened. It took her a moment to take in the scene before her.

Sousuke was leaning against the counter, a towel soaked through with blood pressed to his side. On the floor was a long length of bandages, sticky and red. Sousuke himself was pale and sweating.

The smell hit Kaname almost as quickly as the image registered in her brain. The smell of human blood overwhelmed her and she thought for a moment she would throw up.

Sousuke repeated his query. "Do you have any bandages?"

Kaname's face twitched. She tried to speak several times before finally succeeding. 

"What the hell happened?" Her voice was weak.

"I tried changing my bandages. Do you have any more?"

Kaname shook her head, still having trouble believing what was happening.

Sousuke scrunched up his face thoughtfully. "That'll be a problem."

Finally, Kaname burst through her initial shock.

"My god, Sousuke! We need to get you to a hospital! I'll call a taxi."

Shaking his head, the bloody and pale Sousuke replied, "We can't. A teenager with two bullet wounds in Japan would be too suspicious. Moreover, Mithril will be keeping watch over the hospital records of any place they think I may be."

"Mithril? Why-"

"It's very complicated. Are you sure you don't have any-"

"Yes!" roared Kaname suddenly, her frustration with the soldier overflowing. "I don't have any goddamned bandages!"

Sousuke nodded grimly. "That'll be a problem."

"Fine! I'll go buy you some!" Kaname was scowling now. The nerve of this guy!

And so, in her pajamas, Kaname charged down the stairs of her apartment building and sprinted all the way to her local convenience store. She bought two rolls of bandages, some medical tape, a package of gauze and a bottle of aspirin. The last was for her, not Sousuke.

When she arrived back home, Kaname found a trail of blood leading from the bathroom to the kitchen.

"At least he didn't get any on the carpet…" she muttered quietly as she followed the bloody trail.

In the kitchen, Sousuke had a small portable stove that Kaname kept in her closet just in case set up and burning. He was sticking his army knife into the flame and the metal was starting to glow.

"Sousuke!"

He turned around and nodded.

"Good. Just put the bandages on the table and I'll be finished in a moment. Actually, you can help me…"

"What the hell are you doing now…?" Kaname whispered. She didn't want another "surprise."

"Are you familiar with the process of cauterizing wounds?" Sousuke asked in a very business-like and professional manner.

"I've seen it in movies… Wait. You're not-"

"It'll be easier if you do it." He held the knife out to her. "Just press it against the wound until I tell you to stop."

Sousuke let the towel against his side drop. For so much blood, the wounds looked pretty small, though Kaname dazedly to herself. She took the knife and pressed it against Sousuke's side.

And then, a moment later, it was finished. Sousuke hissed, "Stop." Kaname pulled the knife away and tossed it in the sink where it sizzled and gave off steam.

"Good." Sousuke sounded weak. He pointed to the gauze and bandages. "Can you help me with that as well?"

As if someone else were controlling her body, Kaname wrapped Sousuke in gauze and bandages tightly. She felt some sort of satisfaction when she took a step back and took a good look at her handiwork. Some color had returned to Sousuke's face. He ran a hand over his wounded side.

"Well done," he said simply.

End of Chapter Two

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. For those wondering, Sambo (Sombo, alternatively) is a Russian martial art similar to Judo that's taught extensively in the military. It's not to be confused with Systema, the signature style of hand-to-hand combat used by the Spetsnaz forces.


	3. Chapter Three: A Clockwork Kashim

Disclaimer: Full Metal Panic is the property of Gatou Shoji. This is a parody.

Chapter Three: A Clockwork Kashim

Kaname popped two aspirin into her mouth, downed a glass of water and looked back at Sousuke.

"I'm telling you… You're injured so you can sleep in the bed!"

Sousuke shook his head.

"I don't need to."

This has been going on for a good ten minutes. After Kaname had bandaged Sousuke up, she told him he could sleep in her bed because it would be more comfortable for the injured soldier. Ever the gentleman, Sousuke refused, totally determined to sleep on the couch.

"Listen…" hissed Kaname, advancing on Sousuke. The boy who had faced down terrorists and KGB agents without flinching took a step back. "You will sleep in that bed. And you will be comfortable. Am I making myself clear?"

Clearing his throat, Sousuke looked over the teenage girl glaring at him, weighing his odds. Finally, he spoke.

"I'm a guest in your home. Since you are allowing me to stay here without paying, you're entitled to the more comfortable place to sleep. Moreover, where I sleep will have no major impact on my wounds."

Kaname stared at Sousuke, her face totally expressionless. Feeling more and more uncomfortable with each passing second, the sergeant took a hesitant step backwards.

"Chidori-"

It a blur of motion, Kaname drew her paper fan and smacked Sousuke upside the head. Everything went dark for a few moments. Sousuke was vaguely aware of a strange sliding motion and wondered if any permanent damage was done.

When Sousuke came to, he was lying in bed.

"Chidori?" he said, sitting up and looking around.

"Down here, Sousuke!"

He rolled over and looked down on the left side of the bed and there was Kaname, rolling out a futon. 

"I figured I should sleep in here with you," she said, standing up. She brushed some hair away from her face and grinned. "You know, in case you need help changing the bandages in the middle of the night or something."

"I almost certainly won't. Because the wounds were cauterized, the bleeding won't start again. And the gauze is thick enough that any blood that leaks will be absorbed."

Kaname sorta' stared at Sousuke like he was the stupidest person in the world before looking away from him and sighing in frustration.

"This guy…" she muttered.

~

Ten minutes later, after Kaname had changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth, she lay down on the futon and clicked off the lamp.

"'Night, Sousuke. And no funny stuff if you know what's good for you!"

There was a barely audible sigh from Sousuke's side of the bed. "Understood."

And so, the two teenagers lay there in the dark of Kaname's room. Outside, they could hear the sounds of Tokyo at night. In the living room, Kaname's hamster scratched noisily.

Half an hour passed and Kaname was still awake. The full force of the day's events finally slapped her in the face. The sheer insanity of what happened finally dawned on her. But what was more disturbing was that she was at the point where she wasn't that surprised to find Sousuke on her doorstep with two gaping bullet wounds in his side. Perhaps, she mused, once upon a time, it would've bothered her but now, it was just another crazy thing that happened in her life. Some girls have their boyfriends sleep over when their parents are out of town. Kaname let a teenage paramilitary sergeant crash at her place when he was in town and badly wounded. It wasn't that different.

But then, there was the 64000 Yen Question: Why was Sousuke walking around Tokyo with two bullet wounds? And he said something about Mithril… What the hell was going on?

"Hey… Sousuke…" started Kaname. "You awake?"  
"Yes."

There's a surprise, thought the girl sarcastically.

"Err… If you don't mind my asking…" Suddenly, Kaname wasn't quite sure how to proceed. She was hoping that Sousuke would figure out what she wanted to know and answer without her having to finish the question. No such luck. He remained silent.

"Who shot you up?" she finally said.

Silence.

"Sousuke?"  
"No one."

Kaname felt the familiar frustration rising.

"Who shot you?" she tried again.

"No one."

Finally, the girl scowled.

"Do you think that's cool? Acting all tough like you're not going to say who shot you? This isn't 'The Godfather', this is real life! Just tell me what happened."

Again, more silence. Then…

"It's better if you don't know."

At this, Kaname sat up, facing Sousuke's back.

"Don't give me that shit! Don't try this 'tortured soldier' stuff! You know I don't buy into it!" Her tone softened slightly. "If someone's trying to hurt you, I want to know. Tell me. Who shot you?"

"It's before for you if you don't know. If you know, you'll be in more danger."

Kaname just scowled. The nerve of this guy…

"Aren't I in danger for sheltering you?"

Sousuke made a grunting noise and started to sit up. 

"You're right. I should leave. Thank you for your hospi-"

"Get out of bed and I'll introduce you to a whole new world of pain."

Sousuke lay back down with a soft sigh. Neither teenager spoke for several minutes.

"Chidori," Sousuke said suddenly. "What was the first movie you ever saw?"

The girl was taken aback. Sousuke initiating conversation was something that just didn't happen that often.

"I dunno. Probably some Disney movie. Why?" She got a slight, goofy grin on her face. "What was your first movie?" In her minds eye, Kaname pictured a little Sousuke, sitting in a movie theater, watching some American war movie. Or maybe something like Casablanca.

"'The Godfather.'"

And, once again, Kaname's idealized vision was shattered.

"'The Godfather'? How old were you?"

"Six… No… Seven."

"You saw 'The Godfather' at seven?" She knew Sousuke's like had been weird but…

"Yes." The young soldier's voice took on a nostalgic feel that you usually only get when seniors reminisce. "It was in a small theater in Kabul. There were perhaps one hundred and fifty men in a space that barely accommodated twenty-five but it didn't matter. It was in English and subtitled. I couldn't read but a friend of mine read them for me. The color was horrible. The quality of the film was horrible. The projector must've been ancient and filled with sand. But, for three hours, I was entranced. I forgot about Afghanistan and the fighting. The only thing I thought about was the movie and the story."

Kaname couldn't help it. She smiled. Letting her arms rest on the bed and leaning her head on them, she looked Sousuke seriously, even though he couldn't see it.

"So, you liked the movie?"

"It's my favorite movie, to this day. I haven't seen it since but I remember every detail." He hesitated but continued. "In a war, when the only things you do are walk, fight, eat and sleep, you remember any change."

Something in Kaname's chest tightened. "If you want, tomorrow, we can go rent it."

"I would like that."

During the silence that followed, Kaname couldn't help but feel very close to Sousuke. The Godfather. Who would've thought it? He probably had never told anyone about that before. She was maybe the only person still alive in the world who knew that, as a child, Sagara Sousuke saw The Godfather in a rundown, shitty theater in Kabul and adored it.

"One thing that struck me about the film was how much betrayal the characters when through. Always, someone was betraying someone else. They all had their own reasons but more often than not, they met betrayal as well in the end. I always wondered, after I saw it, if anyone would ever betray me."

"Sousuke… I… Hey, look at me."

He rolled over and locked eyes with Kaname.

"Listen, Sousuke. I'll never betray you, if that's what you're thinking. I don't know what's happened in your life but… You can always be confident that no matter what, if you let me, I'll be with you. Remember what you said? As long as you're with me, we can do anything. Whether it's facing terrifying danger or catching the big one, right?"

Sousuke gave her this solemn look and nodded.

"Yes. Understood."

"Good. Now, get some sleep! You won't heal if you don't sleep!"

Her command was met with an affirmative-sounding grunt. As he drifted off into sleep, Sousuke couldn't help but feel as though the burden of the events of the past day had lifted slightly.

~

"Forty-three… forty-four… forty-five… forty-six…"

Kaname's eyes opened slowly. She sat up and heard several distinct cracking noises originating from her spine. Futons are good for your back my ass, she thought groggily. 

"Forty-seven… forty-eight… forty-nine…"

With some difficulty, Kaname managed to stand up and stretch. More cracking sounds. 

"Fifty… fifty-one… fifty-two…"

It took Kaname a moment to realize that someone counting aloud in her bedroom at 5:30 in the morning wasn't quite normal. She looked around and there, lying on the floor with his feet tucked under the bed was Sousuke, performing sit-ups.

"Fifty-three… Fifty-four…"

"Oi. Sousuke. What're you doing?" 

"Sit ups."

"Oh."

Kaname wasn't a morning person.

She stumbled out of the room and into the shower. Ten minutes later, she stumbled out and back into the room, wearing nothing but a towel. She still wasn't totally awake.

Sousuke had moved on to Hindu push-ups.

"Seventeen… Eighteen… Nineteen…"

It was as he was going through the movements for the twentieth push-up that Sousuke looked up at Kaname. He was about to say good morning when she, unfortunately, woke up.

Normally a very clever and quick girl, Kaname quickly processed the facts: She was standing, dripping wet in a short towel and Sousuke was on the ground, staring up at her.

Had Kaname been a terrorist, a KGB agent, a petty criminal or, really, anyone except Kaname, Sousuke would've resisted his savage fan beating. Instead, however, he took it in good humor. And when she half dragged, half threw him out of the room, he took the in good humor too.

A few minutes later, when Kaname came out, dressed in her sailor uniform, she was none too pleased.

"I can't believe you! I take you into my home and you're already acting like a pervert!"

"I-"

"I guess it can't be helped. I shouldn't try to change your nature." The girl gave a heavy sigh. "Are you coming to school?"

"School?"

"Yeah. You know, that place where normal people go to learn? You went there once, remember?"

"I know what it is. I'm not enrolled so it would be troublesome for me to come to classes."

Kaname sighed again. "I guess you're right. Then you're here alone today. You already know how to work the stove so…" She scrunched up her face in deep thought. "No. On second thought, go out for lunch and dinner. I'll put some money on the counter for you. You can keep the change if you want, okay?"

Sousuke nodded. Kaname was moving around her apartment, grabbing things she needed for school left and right. Sousuke observed her without saying a word. She tossed some money onto the counter as she left the kitchen, a piece of toast in her mouth. 

She knows this place perfectly, Sousuke realized. There's no wasted movement. She's memorized the placement of every object she needs. It's perfect organization.

To most people, this wouldn't be very strange. But to Sousuke, it was at least of some importance: Ever since he could remember, he was very organized. He always knew where things were and those things were always there. He had memorized totally the set up of his quarters on the Tuatha De Danaan. When it took Kurtz or Melissa a few minutes to find an important document, it took Sousuke seconds because he filed it in his file folder where he kept current and previous orders. It was similar with Kaname. Her apartment was in perfect order.

"Hey! Sousuke!"

The sergeant jerked out of his thoughts. He stood up stiffly, facing Kaname. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing…" She sighed. "Listen, I'll have my cell phone on. If anything goes wrong or if anything happens, call me. Got it?"

"Understood."

"And comb your hair."

"Und… what?"

She glared at him.

"I'm serious. Your hair is a mess. Comb it before I get back."

"Err… Alright."

Kaname nodded. "Well, I'll see you this evening." As she turned to leave, she stopped in mid step and spun around to glare at him seriously. "Behave."

~

Sousuke did behave. He showered, dressed himself (he had 'borrowed' clothes from a small shop on the Western coast of Japan), and combed his hair. It didn't make much difference but he tried.

After a small breakfast of toast and milk, Sousuke cleaned his weapons. He spread everything out, very organized, on Kaname's dining room table and meticulously polished and checked every piece of his submachine gun and handgun. And then, he carefully put everything back together. And then he hid the weapons. The MP-5 he put in the briefcase he brought with him. The handgun he tucked into the pocket of his pants.

By then, it was eight o'clock. And Sousuke had nothing to do.

First, he tried watching TV. All the stations were reporting the mission in North Korea. He watched one channel's coverage for a few minutes but started to feel sick. He flipped to a different channel, which was showing a campy Hong Kong movie from the '70s called Inframan. Sousuke watched this to the end. It wasn't half-bad, he decided. It wasn't a masterpiece in any shape and form, though.

By ten o'clock, Sousuke had nothing to do. Kaname had a video game console and he looked over the games but he wasn't familiar with any of them. He decided it would be best not to touch it.

Next, he looked at her bookshelves. She had quite a selection, he decided. Really, there were more books there than he had seen in his life though, he reasoned, that was no large feat.

Finally, Sousuke chose a mystery that looked interesting. He found a comfortable position on the couch and began to read. Occasionally, a noise would startle him and, pulling out his pistol, he would go to investigate. Usually, it was just a wind or a stray cat or the hamster. Gradually, Sousuke began to relax.

If I'm dead, I'm safe, he told himself. Assassins don't try to kill people who are already dead, after all. For the first time in several years, the young man felt an unusual sense of freedom.

Mithril soldiers, as a rule, are not much liked by drug barons, gangsters, Communists or, really, any of the other unsavory characters who populate this world. And it's because of that that most of them spend quite a bit of time looking over their shoulders. Sousuke was no exception. And it was all the more important now, being that Mithril almost certainly wanted him dead.

But why? That was the real question. It was such an open-ended thing that Sousuke put down the book and leaned back, pondering it.

Had he stumbled on something he wasn't supposed to? He didn't remember something like that. Perhaps Major Mao or Kurtz had and the entire team was to be eliminated so it wouldn't look suspicious.

Or perhaps Mithril saw him as a threat because he was the only one who could control the Arbalest. That was possible. Even more so, if they intended to take control of the Tuatha De Danaan away from Captain Testarossa.

And what of the Captain? Sousuke hadn't thought of her since leaving Korea. Was she in on the plan? No. It was something that she would never agree to. He had picked up on what he thought might be slight affection towards him from her so it was impossible (Sousuke, dense as he was, only perceived the way Tessa looked at him longingly and the way she occasionally brushed against him in the corridors and the way she always had a smile for him as "slight affection." He was not a particularly clever lad._

The Captain was a Whispered, wasn't she? Perhaps that had something to do with it. His involvement with the Whispered, that is, the Captain and Kaname, could have been a factor.

No matter how much he speculated, however, he was no closer to learning the truth as he was to actually developing the ability to pick up on "good vibrations."

And so, Sousuke put it out of his mind and went back to reading the novel. It was quite interesting. It was about the murder of the daughter of a Yakuza leader and the subsequent witch hunt throughout the gang to find the killer. As it turns out, it had been an elaborate ploy made by a former officer who had been betrayed and supposedly "killer" (Sousuke felt some sympathy for the fellow's plight) in the '60s. Apparently, he spent twenty years biding his time and planning. In the end, he's found out but not before the gang is split into two factions. The story culminated in a giant fight across Tokyo that leaves the gang in ruins. In the confusion, the betrayed man escapes and leaves for Canada to start his new life.

It was mid-afternoon by the time Sousuke finished the book. He closed it and considered the story. It reminded him of The Godfather—that's what piqued his interest in the first place. Betrayal after betrayal…

As Sousuke thought, he came to the conclusion that he had lead a rather sheltered life up until that point. Certainly, he was an excellent at fighting and wasn't bad with technology, military or otherwise. But that was all he knew. It was a miracle he could read Japanese. He learned Arabic script first, while fighting in Afghanistan and it was only as a preteen that he learned to read Japanese. And he was still only at the level of a Junior High student.

It wasn't all bad, he reasoned. As consolation, Sousuke told himself that he had been helping other people. He had made sacrifices for that others could have a better life, which was inherently good. 

Still, not everyone did what he did. So, why should he have to? Why should he have missed out on a childhood and made huge sacrifices of himself just to help downtrodden people? Didn't he have the right to happiness?

These were all thoughts Sousuke had never had before but the more he considered it, the more it made sense. Instead of trying to return to Mithril, he would stay with Kaname where he could be happy. He could live the rest of his life normally. 

But, what about the military? It was a part of him. The feel of a gun in his hand and the sounds of gunfire were as natural to him as the feel of a baseball and the sounds of a market are to most people.

But, then, he decided, if he was with Kaname, living a normal life, he wouldn't miss it.

And if he did, he could always join the Japanese SDF.

~

When Kaname arrived home, she half expected her apartment to have been turned into a small-scale military base. She was most relieved when she found her humble abode looking the same as when she last left it.

"Yo, Sousuke," she said, looking around for him. Was he hiding in the closet, shotgun out, ready to ambush an intruder? Or maybe trying to change his bandages again. Or even heating up a knife…

The scene from the previous night replayed itself in Kaname's mind and she shuddered involuntarily. For whatever reason, it hadn't bothered her then but… Looking back, the way Sousuke's flesh sizzled when she touched the blade to him… It made her sick.

"Chidori. Welcome back."

Sousuke came walking out of the living room. No military fatigues. No blood. No knife. He held a book in his left hand but that was about it.

"Did you behave yourself?"

"Yes."

He did, she thought happily. He really did. I can civilize him!

She tossed her bag to the floor and her light coat next to it. She went into the refrigerator and pulled out two sodas, one for each of them. She tossed Sousuke's to him and popped open the top on her own.

"So, what'd you do all day?"

"I watched television and I read."

Normal things for a normal person, Kaname thought. She was having trouble hiding her smile.

"What'd you read?"

He held up the book in his left hand. It was the sequel to the other one he read earlier. It was a Yakuza "true crime" novel. The first had been good but the second paled in comparison.

"Did you read the first?"

"Yes. It was very good. I started reading this one after I finished the first book."

Kaname's face finally broke into a full smile. Sousuke looked at her a bit oddly.

"And what did you watch on TV?" she asked a bit too enthusiastically.

"After you left, I watched the new for awhile and then a movie."

It was probably a war movie but who cares? 

"And what'd you do for lunch and dinner?"

Sousuke stared at her for a second. Then, it seemed as thought a light went on inside of his thick skull.

"I forgot to eat."

Kaname groaned and resisted the urge to smack the sergeant halfway across Tokyo.

~

As it turned out, Kaname hadn't eaten dinner yet so the two ordered Chinese food. When it came, they enjoyed their feast of dim sum and fried rice together. When Kaname tried a few jokes out on Sousuke, he actually laughed. Sorta'. He smiled, at least.

The two cleaned up together and washed the dishes together. Kaname splashed Sousuke with the soapy water. He seemed more confused than angry but with some encouragement from her, he splashed her back, though he really didn't seem to understand why.

Afterwards, they played video games together. Despite Sousuke's reflexes, Kaname beat him mercilessly. Still, he seemed to enjoy the game. By nine o'clock, he was winning Street Fighter matches almost as much as he was losing them. Almost.

Before long, it was eleven. Kaname stood up, stretched and yawned.

"It's been a long day, huh? Why don't we go to bed?"

Sousuke gave her one of his usual affirmative grunts and reluctantly turned off the Playstation. Kaname resisted the urge to talk to him like a little kid and promise that she would play with him in the morning.

And so, the two teenagers found themselves laying in Kaname's room much the same as they had done the night before. 

"G'night, Sousuke. And…" Kaname hesitated. Then she said it. "Sweet dreams."

It sounded so horribly sappy to her but she couldn't help it. Sousuke grunted again and within minutes, he was snoring softly.

Kaname, though, was totally awake. Sousuke was behaving. He wasn't running around with a gun. He wasn't detonating explosives. He was being a good boy.

What next? Maybe he could become romantic. Even in the dark, Kaname's cheeks swelled with color. Two teenagers living together… It was to be expected, wasn't it? Her blush increased. Maybe she could coax a kiss out of him before the weekend was over…

No, no, no… Almost as though she were arguing with herself, Kaname should her head. They weren't ready for that sort of stuff yet. It was enough to live in the same apartment and sleep in the same room. For now.

Around eleven thirty, Kaname got up to get a glass of water and to help clear her mind. She was thinking of all the possibilities of being with Sousuke. What if he wanted to pursue a relationship with her? What if she wanted one with him? Would he go back to school? Wouldn't it be great if they got into the same college?

As she drank her glass of water, Kaname tried desperately to stop thinking. At this rate, she figured, she would never sleep. But it was no use. She was happy, excited and scared all at the same time.

Then, she heard it. It started out as a sort of scratching noise coming from the bedroom. Then, it became a knocking noise.

And then, it became a smashing glass noise.

"Oh my god…" Kaname whispered. Did Sousuke do something? Why would he break a window? Sleep walking, maybe?

Then she heard the voices.

"Check the bed. She should be there. Remember. Don't kill her."

"Right. Got it, got it…"

Men's voices. Stressed whispers. What the hell was going on…?

"Check the rest of the apartment. Make sure there's no one else here."

Shit.

Kaname pushed up against the counter of her kitchen. Maybe, she thought, if she stood still, they wouldn't be able to see her. No, that wouldn't work… And wasn't Sousuke in her bed? If they found him-

"Nothing in the bed."

"Damn it… Check the living room, bathroom, kitchen… She's got to be here somewhere."

There were more steps. A light shone into the kitchen and moved around slowly. Kaname was petrified. Finally, it came to rest on her face, frozen in fear. She stared back at the soldier, dressed in full battle gear, like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I've got her. C'mere, sweet heart…" he said, reaching out with one hand, beckoning her.

Two shots rang out suddenly. The soldier froze and looked around, his handgun searching the room.

"What the hell happened?!" he yelled.

"Shit… shit… there's someone else in here!"

"What? Who?"

The only answer he got was another gunshot and a tortured groan.

"Get the girl and let's get the hell out of here!" came the roar from the other room. The soldier before Kaname turned his full attention towards her. He took a step forward and she could see him grinning.

"C'mon, honey. I won't hurt you. Just…"

"No…" she whispered.

"It's okay…"

"No…"

"Just-"

"I. Said. NO!" screamed Kaname. She and the soldier looked equally surprised.

"Listen, we-"

"Go away!" Kaname started searching around frantically behind her. Her hand came to rest on a kitchen knife. She pulled it out and held it in front of her protectively.

"I… I'll kill you! So go away!"

The soldier sighed.

"Now, put that down. Girls shouldn't play with-"

The sound of automatic fire came from the other room. A chorus of "Shit!" came from no fewer than two voices. More gun fire.

The soldier before her was distracted, Kaname realized. Now or never.

It seemed like a dream. She crossed the kitchen with a few strides and, easy as you please, drove the knife into the soldier's throat. As he crumpled to the floor, he looked at her with pure surprise.

It took Kaname a few moments to realize what had just happened. She dropped the knife and took a few steps back.

"What… what…"

"Damn it! Who's shooting?! Where is he? ARGH!"

"What the hell is going on?!" Kaname finally screamed. It felt good to scream.

Yet more gun fire. Then, the apartment was silent.

A full minute passed. Then, footsteps. Without thinking, Kaname knelt and pried the pistol out of the dead man's fingers. She pointed it at the figure entering the kitchen.

And then she dropped it in relief. It was Sousuke. She bounded towards him and threw her arms around him.

"Sousuke! You idiot, what's going on?"

The young soldier didn't answer. He delicately removed Kaname's arms from him and knelt, checking the dead soldier for a pulse. Being dead, he didn't find one.

"Come with me," Sousuke said finally and started towards the door. When Kaname didn't follow him, staring instead on the dead man lying on her nice kitchen floor, Sousuke reached out and gingerly took her hand and led her to the living room.

One soldier was doubled over the back of the couch, a shiny red liquid pouring out of his back. Another was sprawled on the floor, groaning slightly. Sousuke went over to him and grabbed him roughly, pull him to his knees. He raised his pistol and put it to the man's head, all without ever letting go of Kaname's hand.

"Who sent you?" he demanded. There was no trace of emotion in his voice.

"W-who the hell are you…?" whispered the soldier. As opposed to Sousuke, his voice oozed with fear.

"Sagara. Sagara Sousuke."

"What…? You're dead?"

"I came back from Hell. Now. Who sent you?"

"Je… Jesus Christ! You're a fucking ghost!"

"Who sent you?!"

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…"

Sousuke dropped Kaname's hand. He grabbed the soldier's throat and squeezed while pushing the barrel of the pistol into the side of his head.

"Who. Sent. You."

There was total silence for a moment. It seemed as though even the noise of Tokyo by night had stopped. Then…

"Mi… thril…"

Kaname gasped. Sousuke's eyes shot to her and then back to the soldier.

"No…"

He was breathing hard now.

"Liar!"

He pulled the trigger. The soldier's head exploded and blood splattered everywhere. Sousuke let the body fall. He stared at it, then the gun, his bloody hands and finally Kaname. She had drops of blood tossed haphazardly on her pajamas.

"Pack some things. We're leaving."

~

Far away, in Italy, Padre sat in his office. But he was not alone.

In a chair by a bookshelf sat a young girl, perhaps sixteen with red hair that reached her back. She wore a hospital gown and had this dazed, confused look on her face. She stared across the room but in her hands, she played with a rosary, twisting the beads around absentmindedly.

But, as Padre soon learned, they weren't the only two in the room.

"Good evening, Holy Father…" came the blood-freezing, smooth voice. Padre looked up from his papers to see a tall, Asian man emerging from the shadows.

"Gauron. What do you want now?"

"Just checking up on my favorite crazed future dictator. And… Who is this vision of loveliness?" He noticed the girl sitting in the chair. She made no indication that she realized he was there.

"Her name's Fatima. She's my… daughter… of sorts…"

"She's a Whispered."

"You can tell?"

Gauron laughed.

"No. I can't."

He walked over to the girl and caressed her cheek. Padre pulled his pistol and held it ready.

"So… Honey…" Gauron purred. He ran his hands through her hair. Fatima sighed softly. "Does the Holy Father of All God's Creations treat you well?"

She didn't answer.

"Don't you know? He's the mortal enemy of all the Whispered."

"That's enough Gauron…" muttered Padre.

Gauron gave Padre the best shit-eating grin in the world. "I only speak the truth."

He put both hands on Fatima's cheeks now.

"Such a beautiful girl… Never having known a man…" And with that, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Fatima's eyes widened but she didn't pull away. Nor did she lean into the kiss.

When Gauron finished, he stood up, most satisfied with himself. 

"Well, I think that-"

Suddenly, Fatima gave a cry and fell to the ground, clutching her head. Padre stood up, raising his gun but not aiming.

"Fatima! What's wrong? What'd you do to her, you bastard?!"

Gauron grinned but said nothing.

"He's coming…" Fatima whispered.

"What?" demanded Padre.

"Yes. Tell us. Who's coming, sweetie?"

"The angel… The avenging angel comes to take his revenge on those who wronged him… with the bearers of Forbidden Knowledges… The Gnostics… And… And…" Tears were streaming down Fatima's face. "He comes upon a great pale horse with the power of God…"

And then she fainted.

A painful silence filled the room. The ticking of the clock was the only sound. Not surprisingly, Gauron was the first to speak.

"Melodramatic little thing, isn't she?"

Padre aimed at Gauron.

"Get. Out."

"Right, right… But listen to your toy, Holy Father. She knows more about what's happening than you ever will…"

And, like a ghost, Gauron disappeared once again.

Padre slumped back in his chair. He called for a doctor for Fatima and sighed. More security, he thought. We need more security.

End of Chapter Three

Author's Notes:

Wow. I had fun writing this chapter. I would've gotten to it sooner if it weren't for Gundam SEED. Goddamn if that isn't my favorite Gundam series. If you have a chance to see it, I highly recommend you do, if only for the middle-to-end episodes where it really shines.

Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed/complimented this fic so far. It's great encouragement. Really makes my day. 

And, for the record, Inframan, the movie Sousuke watches on TV, is real. It was made in 1975 by the famous Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong. It's so horrible it's awesome. ^_^

Finally, the chapter's title is a parody of "A Clockwork Orange" by some guy whose name escapes me at the moment. I never read much of the book (you viddy?) nor did I see the movie. But I like how the name sounds. That's reason enough, methinks. Plus, the chapter focuses mostly on Sousuke.


	4. Chapter Four: HardBoiled

Disclaimer: I can't think of a witty way to say "I don't own Full Metal Panic. This is a parody" so I just won't. Bite me.

Chapter Four: Hard-Boiled

When Tessa was a little girl, her older brother had given her a book of quotes for her birthday. This was right after she decided to join Mithril. He had highlighted a line from Ernest Hemingway that went something like "In modern war, you will die like a dog for no good reason." Up until this point, Tessa hadn't quite known what Hemingway was talking about.

Kalinin and the other Loyalists had escorted Tessa to the hangar. Originally, they had expected only slight resistance from Andelino's people but things didn't go as planned. Andelino had expected this and that very morning, three squads of heavy assault troops had been stationed aboard the Tuatha De Danaan. In comparison, most of the Loyalists were lightly armed with pistols, shotguns and submachine guns with little or no body armor.

"Goddammit… They're slaughtering us…" growled Mardukas as Tessa and her escort arrived. The Loyalists had build a makeshift fortification out of several heavy containers used for transporting AS repair parts. Perhaps fifty or so soldiers were crouched down, popping up every once and awhile to get off a shot.

"Is there anyway we can gain an advantage?" Kalinin asked as he pushed Tessa down just in time to avoid a sniper's bullet.

"It's doubtful," replied Mardukas as he squeezed off another two rounds. "I think our best chance is to get a hold of an AS but even that's difficult.

Tessa peeked over the fortification and saw what Mardukas meant. The Arm Slaves were stuck in the middle of the "no-man's land" between the Loyalists and Andelino's men.

"Maybe we could use smoke grenades? Or a flash bang?" suggested Kalinin. Mardukas sighed.

"We tried. No use. Captain, what do you make of the situation?"

Both older men, out of ideas, looked to Tessa desperately. She was looking around, putting together parts of an abstract plan.

This is how Tessa's plan went: She figured that, since they couldn't break down their enemy little by little, they would have to annihilate them with a single strike. A full-scale charge was possible but would result in heavy casualties. Instead, she began to consider other possibilities…

"Is there a truck or something we can use?" she asked suddenly. 

Mardukas nodded. "We have a few supply trucks that we can use…"

Tessa quickly spotted them and before either man could react, she was sprinting over to them. The two officers scrambled after her. When they reached her, she was in the seat of one of the trucks, trying to start it.

"Err…" she said shyly, blushing. "I've never driven. How do I start it?"

"You need a key. We don't know where it is," Mardukas said sighing.

"I can hot wire it if you two cover me." Kalinin said, holstering his handgun and rolling up his sleeves. Tessa slid out of the driver's seat, and knelt down, using part of the front of the truck as cover.

A minute later, the truck roared to life. Kalinin dove out of the vehicle as it started charging towards Andelino's men.

The result was as one would expect: The truck picked up steam as it made its way towards its target. The men tried to shoot out the tires but it was to no avail. The truck smashed into the Mithril soldiers, crushing quite a few before colliding with the far wall and exploding.

"Not bad," said Kalinin. He grinned at Tessa and she blushed. Mardukas was busy slapping another magazine into his Uzi.

"We should get her out of here. That can't have slowed them down much," he said, not to Tessa but to Kalinin who nodded. Mardukas saluted Tessa respectfully. "Captain, in case we don't meet again, it was an honor and a privilege to serve under you."

Tessa's eyes went wide. "W-what?"

Kalinin gently took hold of Tessa's arm. "Captain, unfortunately, we need to get you off the Tuatha De Daanan."

"What? Why?"

Kalinin sighed.

"Because you are a Whispered, if you're captured, you'll be experimented on. It is of the utmost importance that you're removed from this ship."

Tessa opened her mouth to argue but at that moment, a grenade landed behind the fortification and detonated, tearing apart half the soldiers assembled there. Tessa covered her mouth in horror at the gory spectacle. Kalinin grabbed her and forced her to look at him.

"Captain, please listen. Those soldiers over there are sacrificing themselves so that you can get away. That's been the plan from the beginning. I'm sorry I didn't tell you but you would've objected anyway."

"No…" whispered Tessa. She looked up at the Russian, angry and determination burning in her eyes. "This is my ship and I'll go down with it if I-"

"This world is no place for romantic bravery!" Kalinin suddenly roared Tessa froze and stared up at the officer.

"I'm sorry," he said. "But I won't let you die for some foolish ideal. It'll be better if you live on and take revenge for us rather than if you die here along with us! Now, will you come along willingly or do I have to subdue you?"

Tessa remembered Kalinin taking Andelino to the ground and beating the snot out of him.

"Alright," she said finally. "Let's go."

The two ran off together, dodging gunfire. It's like a scene in a movie, Tessa thought vaguely. A bullet struck Kalinin's arm and his body shuddered against Tessa's for a second but by the next, he was running as fast as ever.

And before she knew it, Tessa was secure in the cockpit of an M9. Kalinin was buckling her in and tapping keys on the control pads to set the auto-pilot.

"I'm sending you to Japan," he explained. He looked at her solemnly. "Listen. There are only five people in this world you can trust now. The first is Chidori Kaname."

"Well, I knew that…" Tessa muttered. Kalinin pretended he didn't hear.

"The next three are Major Melissa Mao and Sergeants Kurtz Webber and Sagara Sousuke. Yes, they are alive. We have conclusive proof the would lead us to believe that Sergeant Sagara is in Japan with Chidori and Mao and Webber are in the United States."

Tessa tried to find the words but her throat was getting tight fast. She thought she would start sobbing again.

"Finally… You can trust the terrorist Gauron."

Tessa stared at the Russian. "What?"

"Gauron. It doesn't make any sense but you can trust him. For the time being, he's on our side."

The words didn't register with Tessa. Maybe he said Gao Lun, a Hong Kong Cop. "What?"

"I know Gauron. He has his reasons and if you find him, he'll protect you better than anyone else. He hates the people who're doing this even more than we do."

"But… But…"

"I know. But please, believe me. For your own sake, put aside your hatred of him. He could very well be your only hope. But, until then, try to find Sagara. He'll protect you almost as well as Gauron."

"I… What's going on? It seems like everyone's in on some secret that I don't know about!"

Kalinin smiled sadly.

"Not everyone. We're all wondering what's going on. We only know fragments but nobody can see the big picture."

Tessa was silent. She looked down at the controls for the AS. She felt the tears coming to her eyes again.

"Alright. I believe you," she whispered.

Kalinin nodded. "Good. Until we meet again, Captain…" He saluted and shut the cockpit. He deftly leaped down from the AS and was yelling at some technicians to open the hangar door.

As the M9 launched, Tessa was overcome equally with sorrow, confusion and relief.

Back inside the Tuatha De Danann, the launch of the AS was met with cheers from the Loyalists. Kalinin sprinted back to them, bullets whizzing by like crazed sparrows. He made a spectacular leap and broke into a roll, coming to rest behind the containers.

In a moment, Mardukas was beside him. He had a bloody piece of medical tape wrapped tightly around his shoulder and held a heavy-duty revolver in one hand and a cut-down assault rifle in the other.

"She's away," Kalinin said shortly. He picked up the AN-94 from a fallen Loyalist, checked the magazine and propped it up. He began picking off the heavy troops one by one and spoke as he did so.

"Her life is in "God's" hands, then?" muttered Mardukas as he took up his placed next to Kalinin. The cracking of the rifles in the hangar was growing louder as the battle intensified, the Loyalists having received a morale boost, knowing that their captain was safe.

"That's not even funny," muttered Kalinin in reply as he dropped a particularly annoying sniper.

"It's true if you believe what Gauron said."

"I believe what he said because I know it's true. Still… It's only one way of looking at the situation."

The rifle clicked empty and Kalinin dropped down to find a new magazine.

"It's disturbing none the less. To be so young and have to bear such a burden… It's painful to think about. I feel sorry for those three." Mardukas' voice was quiet.

Kalinin located a magazine. He slapped it in and took up his aim again.

"Then don't think about it."

And so, the battle raged on.

~

My life has become a made-for-TV movie, decided Kaname.

After Sousuke executed the last soldier, he had gone to the kitchen to wash the blood off his hands, leaving Kaname in the living room, totally shocked at what had just happened. Her mind had all but shut down and it was a miracle she didn't faint.

When Sousuke came back in, he had clean up his arms and face so he didn't totally look like some sort of serial killer. He turned on the lights and knelt to begin harvesting the weapons and body armor of the soldiers. It was then that Kaname realized they had all been killed by shots to the head. Her stomach lurched and she leaned against the couch for support.

"Pack some things," Sousuke said again. He looked up from the body of one soldier sprawled lewdly on the floor. "Clothing and money. American bills if you have them."

Kaname nodded numbly and stumbled off to her room where she changed and now sat, neatly putting all the clothing she could into a single suitcase.

A made-for-TV movie. That was it. This was such a stupid, absolutely idiotic set-up that the only logical conclusion was that her life had become a mediocre movie they run late on Sunday nights that nobody watches because they have better things to do.

By the time she pulled out her savings jar, her mind was beginning to get over the shock and the wheels were turning again. Instead of being horrified by the bodies lying around her (she hadn't noticed but there were two dead soldiers in her room), she ignored them and began planning.

We'll take everything I have, she figured. Since we might not come back for awhile… And with that thought in mind, Kaname poured two years worth of spare change, saved allowances and odd job money into her suitcase.

When she had everything in order, she went back to the living room. Sousuke had stripped the kevlar vests off the dead soldiers and lined then up on the couch. Then, he began checking their guns. He was busy with one when she came in. He looked up at her, totally expressionless. He had gone from "clueless but relatively harmless" Sousuke to "efficient soldier" Sousuke in the course of less than half an hour.

"Chidori. Put one of those on."

He gestured to the kevlar vest.

Kaname didn't argue. She picked one up that didn't seem to be covered in too much blood and started strapping it on.

"No. Under your clothing."

It was at that precise moment that Kaname found all her marbles.

"Under my clothing?" she repeated.

"Yes. Take off your-"

A wicked, twisted grin was forming on the girl's face. "You just want to-"

"You'll attract too much attention if you wear the vest over your clothing. They'll know to aim for your head."

Kaname froze. Her stomach felt very tight and uncomfortable.

"My head?"

"Yes. Or your legs. Or your arms. Or-"

"Who's aiming for my head or my legs or-"

Sousuke stood up suddenly, making an angry grunting noise.

"You heard what he said. Mithril."

"But, you're-"

"I am no longer affiliated with Mithril. They consider me an enemy and I regard them likewise."

"Sousuke-"

"Put on your vest and take two handguns."

Kaname dropped the vest and grabbed one of the handguns Sousuke had checked. She pointed at him. Sousuke stared at her. He had expected her to argue with him, not pull a gun on him.

She instantly regretted the move. Sousuke had a weird sort of hurt look in his arms and she had the strange feeling that he thought she had betrayed him.

"Sousuke, I'm sorry," she said quickly. "But what's going on? Really, what the hell's going on? I need to know. I heard what these guys-" Kaname's eyes darted to the corpses on the floor. "-said. They were looking for me, weren't they? I have a right to know, since I'm caught up in this too."

And then she lowered the gun. Her eyes were locked on Sousuke though.

Sousuke started to say something but then he stopped. He picked up one of the vests and began fastening it.

"That mission in North Korea on the news. You've heard about it, correct?" he began.

"Yeah…" said Kaname slowly, not liking where this was going.

"Put on your vest and choose your guns. That was a mission executed by Mithril that failed. Sergeant Major Mao and Sergeant Webber as well as myself are all considered Missing in Action, believed to be dead."

Kaname had picked up her vest again but at this revelation, she dropped it.

"What?" was all she could manage.

"Both of them are alive, of course. We believe that we were… set up by Mithril so as to get us out of the way."

He's using phrases from the Yakuza novel, thought Kaname through her muddled mind as she began taking off her shirt. Even though Sousuke was busy checking the last of the guns, she turned around to take it off.

"Because of some things that happened aboard the Tuatha De Danaan, it seems plausible that Mithril intended to take control of the ship away from Captain Testarossa and feared a mutiny or possible rebellion. Either way, they almost certainly intended for us to die on that mission."

"But you didn't." Kaname looked over her shoulder and made a half hearted attempt to get Sousuke to look her in the face. He was still absorbed by the gun.

"Exactly. And because I was here, another thing for them has gone wrong. I can only speculate as to why they would want to kidnap you. Most likely, it's because you are a Whispered."

Whispered. Kaname really, really hated that word.

"So, what now?"

Sousuke really, really hated that phrase.

"We need to get out of Tokyo. Mithril will send a follow up team if we wait too long."

Kaname turned around, having finished putting on her kevlar vest. She put her shirt on over it and looked in the mirror. It looked exactly like what it was. That is, it looked like she was wearing a bulletproof vest under her shit.

"We are we going?"

"Anywhere but here. Perhaps Hong Kong or Canada. Eventually, I want to get you to Switzerland. Every member of Mithril has a Swiss bank account with a balance of thirty thousand dollars American that can't be touched by anyone else. That should be enough for us to live on for awhile."

Us. The word sent shivers down Kaname's spine. She was suddenly blushing. She bent over, looking at the handguns, not wanting Sousuke to see her face.

She chose the two that felt lightest in her hand. She stuck one awkwardly in the waistband of her jeans and the other in her pocket. It wasn't comfortable but, she decided, it would have to do.

"How're we getting out of the country? Boat? Plane?"  
"For now, we need to get out of Tokyo. We can take a train south. From there, we can go to Canada. And from there, it won't be difficult to get to Switzerland."

As they finished packing and left, Kaname felt an incredible rush of emotions. She was sad that she was leaving the apartment her father had given her. And she could very well be leaving her life, as she knew it, behind. But, on the other hand, she would be with Sousuke. And, as he had told her before, as long as they were together, nothing was impossible. At that moment, more than ever before, Kaname wanted to believe his words.

~

Even by night, Tokyo was still livelier than most cities are at day. There certainly weren't nearly as many people out but Kaname and Sousuke ran into quite a few on their way to the train station. Mostly couples out on late-night dates or drunken salary men stumbling home.

Despite the general harmlessness of most of the passersby, Sousuke kept his hand on his gun at all times. He was wearing a jacket but didn't put one arm through its sleeve. Instead, he held onto a concealed Beretta, ready to draw it at a moment's notice.

Kaname was in a state somewhere between incredible excitement and petrifying fear. She was looking over her shoulder every time she heard a noise. On the other hand, it was comforting to have Sousuke next to her. They were huddled close together as they walked. She was wondering whether or not to hold his hand but eventually decided that it might hinder reaction if they were ambushed.

That thought surprised her. Partly because she was considering holding Sousuke's hand and partly because she was beginning to think like him.

When they reached the station, there we only a handful of people there. Kaname bought their tickets while Sousuke kept a look out. She bought two tickets for Yokohama without event. 

It was as they were hurrying to catch the train that they ran into trouble. It was leaving in only a few minutes so both teens were sprinting full speed through the station and didn't notice the half dozen or so men following them.

When they finally found their train, Kaname sighed in relief, brushing hair away from her face and panting.

"We just made it, Sou-"

And then a bullet whizzed past her face, denting the side of the train.

Kaname cried out and ducked instinctively. Sousuke drew his pistol with one hand and grabbed Kaname by the arm and half-dragged, half-pushed her into the train. He closed the doors behind them and crouched down next to Kaname.

"It looks like the found us," he muttered.

Kaname straightened up just enough to peek through the window. Seven men, in full combat regalia, were advancing slowly, assault rifles bearing down on them. Suddenly, a burst of fire shattered the window. Kaname immediately ducked back down, covering her head with her hands.

"Our only chance is if this train leaves before they get to us. I can't hold them off," Sousuke whispered to her quickly. Even as he said this, he fired out of the broken window.

There was no one else in the car, Kaname realized. Would they be able to get to another car, maybe? Another volley of bullets flew through the window. No, they'd be cut down the second they exposed themselves.

So, it'll end like this, then, Kaname thought. She shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to face the men. The train station became a far away thing. Sousuke trading shots with the Mithril soldiers… It seemed as though she were hearing it on a static-filled radio. 

It was in this dazed state that Kaname's mind seized on one thought: If the train moved, they would be safe. As if a mantra, Kaname started repeating the word in her mind.

"I'm sorry, Chidori," Sousuke muttered as he dropped the magazine from one of his guns and slapped in a new one. "This is my fault."

Kaname didn't hear him. She was beginning to whisper now, in a sort of tortured whimper.

"Movemovemovemovemovemovemovemove…"

Sousuke raised an eyebrow, looking at her.

"Chidori, what's-"

"MOVE!"

Kaname's head shot up from her hands. She was glistening with sweat, some of her hair plastered to her forehead. Her pupils had all but disappeared.

And then, the most peculiar thing happened. To Sousuke, it felt as though a fierce wave of invisible energy, bearing a command, had emanated from Kaname. A second later, the train lurched to life, the gears beginning to turn. 

The Mithril forces ceased firing and just stared at the train as it began to move. It slowly picked up speed and soon, it was out of the station.

When he was sure they were safe, Sousuke fell back, sitting down across from Kaname who was staring at the floor.

"Chidori," he said, his voice calm. They both had a vague understanding of what had happened: Somehow, Kaname had willed the train to start moving.

She suddenly grabbed her stomach and stood up unsteadily.

"I'm gonna' be sick…" she murmured before turning around and throwing up on one of the seats. Sousuke gently held her hair back for her and when she was done, he guided her to another car.

~

Many thousands of miles away, in Rome, Padre sat at his desk in his dark little office, looking over plans on his computer and talking on his phone. Fatima wasn't there. She'd been having nightmares and they had to give her a heavy tranquilizer to get her to fall asleep. It was most inconvenient, seeing as their patients had to have a certain degree of mental stability for information to be extracted.

"Yes… Yes, I understand. No, it can't be helped. It's only a minor setback… Launch a full-out assault on it as soon as possible. Use tactical nuclear weapons if you have to. About the prototype… Excellent. I'll be waiting."

And with that, he hung up the phone. Smiling to himself, he clicked through the blue prints pulled up on his computer. At the top, the schematics were christened with the title "Arbalest Mk. II."

End of Chapter Four

Author's Notes: Not much to say. Didn't really like the end of this chapter. Just wanted to get through it, you know? I probably should've sat down and made it better but it can't be helped.

Anyway, it seems like the whole thing is about half-over. At least the set up is nearly over. Once the characters are in place, the real fun can begin…

Heheh. I'm rambling. This would've been out sooner, had I not been twitching as a result of SEED 45. *shudder*


	5. Chapter Five: Reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Panic. This is a parody. I doubt, however, that the Feds would try anything about it, being that they're too busy putting teenagers in jail for twenty years for downloading Britney Spears songs. They'll be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes… 

Chapter Five: Reunion

The train's shaking awoke Kaname. He looked around in surprise and realized her head had been resting on Sousuke's shoulder. She quickly pulled herself upright and looked around.

"Good morning," Sousuke said with the same kind of voice one might comment on the weather with.

"'Morning…" The events of the previous night hit Kaname like the proverbial load of bricks. In less than ten hours, she had gone from sharing a room with her boy "friend" to fleeing Tokyo because strange men with guns had broken into her apartment. Some people complain because their lives aren't interesting enough. Kaname would give anything to be taking a shower right about then.

"Where're we going?"

"Yokohama. I'll have the best chance of contacting Sergeant Kurtz and Major Mao from there."

Kaname nodded, suddenly very dizzy. They were the only ones in the car.

"Were you able to sleep?" Sousuke's voice still lacked anything even remotely similar to emotion.

"Yeah. A bit."

After the gunfight, she had thrown up and fainted. Sousuke had carried her to another car and she woke up. He told her to sleep and she did just that.

When she became silent, Sousuke spoke.

"It was attributed to being a terrorist act. They don't know we were involved."

Kaname felt a bit better. Then she remembered two things: One, she had caused a train to start moving with her mind and two, she had killed someone. The second bothered her more than the first.

But, she tried to reason, it had been dark and she was scared and pumped up on adrenaline. Kaname could very well have just wounded him.

"Sousuke. At my apartment…"

"Yes?"

"Err… All the soldiers… Were they killed?"

"Yes."

"Each one? You checked?"

"Yes."

"So, no survivors, right?"

"Yes."

Kaname wanted to throw up again. She suddenly remembered very vividly lunging forward and stabbing the soldier in the next. She remembered how he made a sort of gasping noise and stumbled backwards as she pushed the blade in deeper and cut apart his throat. The way the dark blood as oozed out and onto his clothing…

She gagged. She doubled over in her seat, gagging. Sousuke patted her back gently and, thinking she would start throwing up again, gathered up her hair and held it back.

"Once we get to Yokohama, I can buy some indigestion pills for you."

Kaname looked up at Sousuke. He was totally calm. And, hadn't he just killed six or so men a few hours ago? She felt tears in her eyes. Very suddenly, Kaname threw her arms around Sousuke and cried into her shoulder.

"What the hell happened?!" she sobbed over and over. Sousuke was getting better at dealing with girls hugging him and crying at the same time. He patted her back again, whispering "It's alright" over and over.

When Kaname calmed down a bit, she started hiccuping. She pulled away from Sousuke and looked down at the seat.

"I killed someone."

Sousuke didn't answer.

"Why did I have to kill him?! I warned him… He could've left… I warned him…" She was about to start crying again. Sousuke looked at her stoically.

"He would have hurt you had you not killed him."

"But…"

"It was self-defense. All major religions and sets of laws advocate the use of lethal force, should your life be threatened, if that's what you're worried about."

Kaname stared at Sousuke and he stared back. She remembered, briefly, some philosopher saying something along the lines of "If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back."

And then she slapped him.

And it was a hard slap too. Sousuke's nose bled a little bit.

"I feel bad because I killed him! Not because I'm worried about getting in trouble! Did you ever think that he might have a family who would be worried about him? And now he's not coming back to them! Oh god… And you! You killed more of them than I did…"

Sousuke let her finish.

"I killed them to protect you. Had I not, you would've been captured. And Mithril doesn't recruit members with spouses."

Kaname didn't say anything. She just stared at the floor blankly.

"Didn't you feel bad? For killing them…"

"No."

"Did you feel anything?"

"No."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Why?"

Sousuke looked at her solemnly. "Because you are more important to me than they were. It was between your life and theirs. I chose yours."

Their faces were very close together. Sousuke could feel Kaname's breath and she could make out the fine details of his eyes. Kaname suddenly realized how Sousuke's eyes were boring into him. He was daring her to keep looking into his eyes and not blink. He was daring her to argue with him. He was daring her to say that he had been wrong to kill the soldiers to protect her. It was Sousuke's own, subtle way of challenging her.

She had no choice. She blinked and turned away.

Kaname looked at the floor. Sousuke withdrew completely, staring at the front of the car. And the train rumbled forward, much in the way trains normally do.

As time passed, Kaname's dizziness did too. And she began to ponder what had happened.

Starting with the most recent, Sousuke had stared her down and she had realized what he was doing. Maybe she was beginning to understand him better? Or perhaps she was going insane.

Before that, he had told her (though somewhat abstractly) that she was very important to him. Remembering that, it sent chills through her spine. Wasn't it only a day ago that Sousuke had been telling her about his favorite movie? And now he was telling her he would kill without hesitation to protect her.

Then, there was the fact that she made a train move with her mind. Part of her clung to the hope that it simply happened to be time for the train to Yokohama to leave. The rest of Kaname wasn't quite so sure.

And then there was the business with Mithril breaking into her home. It was all too much.

She was starting to feel dizzy again. Kaname leaned her head against the window of the train and fell asleep, sincerely wishing she were somewhere else.

~

As it turned out, within the next twenty-four hours, Kaname was somewhere else. Southern Germany, to be exact.

Once they reached Yokohama, they had gone off to find Sousuke's contacts. Kaname still wasn't feeling comfortable with him and avoided speaking to him the entire afternoon. They spent the day going from one shady apartment to another. Kaname was made to stand in the hall while Sousuke conversed quietly with somebody who invariably told him to go check with someone on the other side of town. The cycle continued for several hours until he got the information he was looking for.

He pieced together all the info he received over the day and had a full story soon which he shared with Kaname: Kurtz and Melissa, both having survived the betrayal, went to stay with some of her relatives in the US. After a close call, they made the decision to go to stay with Kurtz's family in Germany. The Weber family, as it turned out, owned three large corporations and held great amounts of stock in BMW. 

In other words, they were massively rich and had their own private estate with a small but highly trained army of guards.

Shortly after arriving, Kurtz put the word out in underground intelligence communities that he was looking for Sousuke and he was to fly to Germany immediately.

And so, that's how Kaname found herself in a limousine, after a boring and largely uneventful trip, traversing the German countryside on her way to the Weber Estate.

The first thing she noticed about the place was how big it was. Surrounded by forest, a single road let through some large, impressive and totally unnecessary gates. The road continued on until it came to a huge house that looked more like a small castle than anything else.

And standing out in front were Kurtz and Melissa, waving. As Kaname stumbled out of the limo stiffly, she couldn't help but reel under how surreal everything was. It was like someone was manipulating the events of her life for his own amusement. It was, in other words, freaking her out.

Her unease lessened when Melissa caught her up in a fierce hug, burying her face in the older woman's chest and laughing.

"It's been awhile, huh, Kaname?" she said happily.

Kaname couldn't help it. She laughed and smiled too. "It's been too long."

Almost instantly, Kurtz replaced Melissa. "Oh, Kaname, I've missed you!" he yelled as he tried to throw his arms around her. She cut him off, smacking him across the driveway with her fan. Melissa laughed and forced the German playboy to his feet.

"Hey, Sousuke," Melissa said as Kurtz tried to clear the cobwebs. "Did you have any trouble with airport security?"

Sousuke had been standing stiffly near the door of the limo. "None. I used the usual method to get our weapons on board."

Kaname glanced at him. "The usual method?" It was the first time she'd addressed him in several hours.

"Dark chocolate."

She stared at him.

"Dark chocolate?" repeated Kaname.

Before Sousuke could answer, Kurtz supplied one.

"Dark chocolate is so thick that x-rays can't see through it. If you put a piece of dark chocolate on either side of your gun, they can't see it. And if they want to open up your bags…" He shrugged. You give them a piece of chocolate they let you go."

Just then, a shrill voice called out from inside the house. "Oh, Kurtzle!"

They all looked in the direction of the voice. Kurtz sighed and Melissa stifled a giggle.

"What's a Kurtzle…?"

The Sergeant Major grinned. "The diminutive of Kurtz."

A plump, smiling old woman came out of the house. She wore an apron and held a tray of cookies out.

"Kurtzle! You've invited even more friends over! Well, come on, now, invite them in! It's not polite to let them stand outside in the cold."

As the woman bustled back into the house, Kaname looked at Melissa and Kurtz.

"Who was-"

Kurtz sighed again. "My mom."

~

The interior of the house was everything you'd expect from a well-to-do German family with a mother who has too much time on her hands. The place was immaculate and looked like a resort ad.

When Mrs. Weber led them to the kitchen, Kaname was amazed at the amount of food laid out on the table. Every thing you could imagine, from cookies to sausage, was represented.

Noticing the surprise on the girl's face, Kurtz whispered to Kaname quietly. "It's been her dream that someday, I'll have friends over and she'll cook for them. The food's good so please… just humor her and eat till you explode."

"Kurtzle, I'm just so glad that you're finally having friends over…" She looked at him expectantly. "Well, aren't you going to introduce them?"

Kurtz scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. First, he pointed at Sousuke who was standing straight and stiff, as though he had a crow bar or some other uncomfortable piece of metal up his ass. 

"This is Sousuke Sagara. He's my… uhh… Co-Worker. And this-" He gestured towards Kaname who bowed slightly. "Is Kaname Chidori. She's… uhh…" He suddenly grinned evilly. "She's Sousuke's girlfriend."

Kaname flushed and once again hit Kurtz with her fan, driving him in to a plate of sauerkraut. Mrs. Weber just chuckled as her son wiped the vaguely sauce-esque condiment from his face. 

"Err… Yeah. Hey, Mom, where's Tessa?"

Kaname looked up, first at Kurtz and then at Mrs. Weber.

"Oh, the little girl with the white hair? She's on the phone in the study. Did you tell her you were bringing more friends over?"

Kurtz shook her head. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to bring Kaname and Sousuke to see her. They're… uhh… old friends."

Mrs. Weber smiled brightly and selected a large plate of sausage sandwiches. She gave it to Sousuke and kept on smiling.

"Alright but make sure she eats something! The poor thing is skin and bones!" She eyed Kaname and continued. "You could stand to have a good meal too! What do they feed-"

"Mom," Kurtz said in exasperation. "We really need to go. I'll make sure everyone eats something, don't worry."

Mrs. Weber reluctantly let them go. Kurtz led the way through the maze of hallways and staircases towards the den.

"Your mom is really…" Kaname started.

"She's a psycho," said Kurtz with annoyance. "I think she's deluded herself into thinking this is a high school party. Or worse, a slumber party. Watch, I guarantee she'll bring up sleeping bags and popcorn for us…"

"I still don't see what the problem is!" Melissa said. She slapped Kurtz on the back. "I wish I could eat this way everyday! I don't know why you ever left this place."

"You will once you meet my dad," he muttered dryly.

When they arrived at the den, Kurtz suddenly stopped in his tracks. He grabbed Sousuke, who had been even more quiet and withdrawn than usual and pushed him in front. When the young soldier gave the other one a questioning glance, Kurtz just grinned.

"I don't want her to knock down anyone."

And then Kurtz threw open the doors.

Inside, Tessa was sitting on this huge, comfy looking red couch, talking on a telephone and reading over a large, messy stack of papers in her lap. Looking up at the group, she pressed a finger to her lips and went back to the papers.

"Yes, I understand that but…"

She froze in mid-sentence and took another look at the group of people standing at the door. Specifically at Sousuke.

"L-l-listen… Something just came up… Can… Can I call you back later? Please?"

She didn't even wait for an answer before hanging up.

Ever the professional, Sousuke clicked his heels together and saluted respectfully. 

"Captain."

"Sagara." Tessa just stared at him. He stared straight ahead, off into the distance. "I'm not a part or Mithril anymore. Nor are you. You don't have to call me Captain anymore…"

He grunted and nodded. "Understood, Testarossa-san."

"Umm…" She looked at the ground, blushing. "How are you, Sagara?"

"Very well. And you, Cap… Testaro-"

Before Sousuke could finish his sentence, Tessa was on her feet, charging him and sobbing. She flew into his arms, squeezing him tightly and nearly knocking him off his feet.

"Sagara…" She moaned and buried her face in his chest. As she cried, Sousuke looked at Kurtz with a horribly confused expression on his face. Kurtz held out his own arms, as though hugging someone and Sousuke understood. Slowly and awkwardly, he put his arms around Tessa's shoulders and held her as she cried.

Kaname couldn't help but want to beat Sousuke senseless right then and there.

~

After they managed to calm Tessa down a bit and Sousuke related the story of his escape from Korea, meeting up with Kaname and their combined escape from Tokyo (Kaname noted that he left out any mention of the things they had done together. Was it that he didn't consider them important or he didn't want Tessa to know?), she in turn told them her story.

Once she got off the Tuatha de Danaan, she managed to maneuver her way to South Korea. From there, she managed to get in contact with Kurtz and Melissa and caught the next plane to Germany. 

"It's incredible we were able to gather everyone here so quickly," Melissa said, biting into her third sausage. Kurtz had assured everyone that his mother would go catatonic if the platter of food wasn't finished.

"What's bothering me is… Why? Why did Mithril turn on us? They did… Didn't they?" 

All eyes turned to Tessa, who was finishing a plate of St. Louis-style barbecue ribs and was sitting a bit too close to Sousuke for Kaname's comfort, who, of course, didn't give a damn about what he did with other girls. The insensitive bastard.

The white haired little girl wiped her mouth and began. "I've been getting in touch with all my contacts and… As far as I can tell, some major changes have been implemented in Mithril."

She waited a moment for this to sink in. Sousuke looked off into space, unblinking. Kurtz and Melissa stared at Tessa, waiting for her next words. Kaname looked at the nice carpet.

"For one thing, all the Whispered in Mithril and under their protection have disappeared."

"Disappeared?" asked Kurtz. Kaname looked up.

"Yes. There's no proof but it looks like they've kidnapped them."

"Jesus Christ…" Kurtz muttered, sitting back. He casually tossed an arm over the back of the couch and near Melissa's shoulders. When she didn't knock him out the windows, he said, "What the hell are they trying to do?"

Tessa shook her head. "I have no idea… I haven't been able to find out what happened to the Tuatha de Danaan…" She looked at her friends, fearfully and wide-eyed. "Do you think it was…"

"It's doubtful."

All eyes now turned to Sousuke. Even Kaname looked up at him. He still stared out the window, no real emotion of any kind on his face.

"The Mithril's personnel was made up of the elite. We all know that. Soldiers who have faced terrifying odds and won anyway with the bare minimum of equipment. Moreover, they were fighting on home territory. And there were several heavy weapons caches around the Tuatha de Danaan in case of such a situation. In addition, both Majors Kalinin and Mardukas are superb tacticians. I have no doubts that they were victorious."

The kind of silence one hears when a tree falls and no one's around was suddenly present in the room. Tessa turned away and Kaname saw that her eyes were glistening.

"Yes. You're right, of course, Sagara…"

"Of course he's right!" yelled Kurtz. "Sousuke spends the whole day thinking about military stuff! If he says they won, then they're breaking out the champagne as we speak! So, c'mon…" He looked around at everyone hurriedly. "Eat more. This'll be our Tuatha de Danaan victory party!"

At that moment, Mrs. Weber burst through the door.

"I baked you all some doughnuts…"

~

A few hours later, as night fell, Sousuke stood alone on the lawn, looking up at the sky. 

It was different from Tokyo. The Weber Estate was so far away from any major city that he was sure he would be able to see the stars if it were a clear night. Even if he didn't, the dark blue sky was beautiful enough. Looking at it made the boy feel calm, almost at peace. If he tried hard enough, he could forget the bloodshed…

"Sagara."

Sousuke turned and automatically clicked his heels together in a salute.

"Captain."

Tessa walked towards him, a soft, almost sad smile on her face. "It's alright. Since neither of us is in Mithril anymore, I'm not a Captain. Remember?"

Sousuke nodded. "Understood. Testarossa-san."

Sighing, Tessa came to stand next to him. She turned her head up, following his gaze. "What're you looking at?"

"I'm waiting for the stars. Because I've been in Tokyo, where the light's keep the sky bright, I've been unable to see the stars for awhile."

"I see… Do you like stars, Sagara?" Tessa came closer to Sousuke.

"Yes. They're very beautiful."

"Hmm… Oh!" Tessa suddenly looked at Sousuke, remembering something. "Do you know? If you see the first star of the night and you make a wish, it'll come true!"

Sousuke's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Uh-huh! Every time I've tried it, my wish comes true."

That was all Sousuke needed. He focused his attention on the sky again, this time with renewed effort.

"That… Is that it?" he said, pointing to a light off in the sky.

"Uhh… I think that's a plane."

Sousuke squinted. "You're right. But, what about that?"

This time, he pointed to a small but bright shining dot off in the northern sky. Tessa smiled.

"That's it. Make your wish."

Shutting his eyes in concentration like a child, Sousuke made his wish. Tessa too, wished.

Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Then, Sousuke spoke. "Is that it? I wished for-"

"No! If you tell someone your wish, it won't come true!"

Sousuke looked horrified for a second and shut his mouth. Tessa smiled. He was indeed like a child…

"Don't worry. If you don't tell anyone, it'll come true."

With a solemn air, Sousuke bowed his head. "Good. I'm glad."

Tessa kept smiling. She had wished for two things: The first was peace. The second was Sousuke. Carefully, she slipped her hand in with his. When he looked at her strangely, she blushed and looked away.

"My hands are cold."

"You should ask Mrs. Weber if you can borrow a pair of mittens."

"I… I don't want to bother her while she's cooking."

Sousuke accepted this answer and wrapped his hand around hers tightly. She sighed contently and laid her head against his shoulder. My wish came true, she thought.

As more stars crept out, Sousuke wondered if he could wish on them too. He decided he probably couldn't but it didn't matter. His wish was that Kaname would find happiness and that some day, he might live a normal life.

Not far away from them, Kaname sat against a tree. She watched Tessa hold Sousuke's hand and lean against him. She wanted to cry but she couldn't. So, she looked up, saw the star and wished for only one thing: To understand Sousuke.

Author's Notes: Yeah, it's been awhile. I sincerely apologize for my incompetence. I've been thinking of so many different ways to end the story that I've been having trouble actually getting there. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I'd like to thank Ming (you know who you are!) for letting me spoil the entire fic for him by bouncing ideas off him. I'd also like to thank Kyle for "you-know-what" (Damn, that sounds perverted…) which will become clear in the next chapter.

For the record, this chapter was so late because A.) Workload, B.) Gundam SEED episodes 45-47 C.) Soul Calibur II, D.) Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, or lack thereof (Goddamn you, Streamload…) and, finally, E.) Just a wee bit of advertising for a friend.


	6. Chapter Six: Invoke

Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Panic, nor do I own the hilarious and witty word "Fumoffu." I do, however, own the "Campaign to Incorporate the Hilarious and Witty Word 'Fumoffu' into Modern English Vernacular." Just think! Sitcoms would have a field day! "Did you do your homework?" "Fumoffu!" *hilarity ensues* Or how about "Whatever happened to those weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?" "Fumoffu!"

Chapter Six: Invoke

When Kaname awoke, it was noon. In her depression, she had gone to bed shortly after seeing Sousuke and Tessa outside and, after tossing and turning for several hours, finally fell asleep.

The guestroom she was given was quite nice. The carpet was like walking on soft fur and the bed was fluffy and comfortable. The windows let the sunshine in just right so as to give the room a happy, content feeling.

All of this was lost of Kaname as she stumbled out of the room because she felt like shit.

She managed to get downstairs and into the kitchen where Mrs. Weber was… cooking.

"Oh! Kaname, dear, come here and taste this…"

"Mrs. Weber…" moaned Kaname. "I'm not feeling well. I don't think…"

In an instant, Mrs. Weber had crossed the large kitchen with a speed impossible for a woman of her age and size. Her hand was suddenly at Kaname's forehead.

"Mmm… Poor thing. I would say you have a fever. Well, back to bed!"

"But…"

"If you don't get rest, you won't get better, now will you? I'll send someone up with food for you, don't worry!"

With one pudgy hand, Mrs. Weber grabbed Kaname's arm. She tsk-tsked disapprovingly. 

"Kurtzle says you live alone. It doesn't seem like you eat that well… A woman's body needs…"

Kaname tuned out and didn't hear the rest of what Mrs. Weber said. The older woman marched her back up to the guestroom and put her to bed. Kaname curled up in a fetal position, burying her head against the pillow.

Soon, she had sunk into an uneasy sleep. Then, before long, she was dreaming…

She was standing in a city. A destroyed city. It was like the hollowed out, gutted skeleton of once beautiful city. Kaname walked along the deserted roads, the wind blowing through her hair, spreading it out.

The winding roads led her all through the dead metropolis. Charred and crushed buildings lay everywhere. Soon, she came to what appeared to be a large square that had remained more or less untouched by the destruction. In the center, there was what looked like the monument or a statue. A cross, she realized.

As she started towards it, a cold needle pierced Kaname's heart. There was something on the cross. She picked up the pace and when she saw the blue hair of the crucified person, she started to run.

The corpse made for a grotesque sight. The body was naked and splattered with dried blood. It hung awkwardly off the wood, held to it only by the nails in the hands and feet and the supporting rope. A crown of thorns adorned the head.

And, to top it off, it was Kaname's own face staring right back at her with dead eyes.

She hadn't noticed it at first, but there was someone sitting at the foot of the cross. A man, dressed in Roman armor. When Kaname noticed him, he rose slowly, drawing his sword.

He looked her directly in the face and smiled. He was middle aged, mid to late forties. Hair beginning to gray. And he had the kind of smile that could make a tiger piss itself.

The gladius drawn, the soldier turned slowly and drove the blade into the corpse's side. Blood oozed out and as Kaname began to scream, he whispered something.

"All hail the Queen of the Whispered…"

~

When her eyes shot open and she began to scream, Kaname was vaguely aware of someone near her. She tried to sit up, thrashing in the bed, trying to erase the vision of her own naked corpse from her mind. The person was holding her down now. Not roughly but gently.

Slowly, she calmed down. Panting, her eyes began to focus and Kaname realized who was holding her down. Holding her, really.

Sousuke.

"Chidori."

Kaname looked at Sousuke closely. He was obviously worried. His brow was furrowed and he looked a bit pale. Were his wounds alright? Didn't matter…

"Are you alright, Chidori?"

"Sousuke…"

"If you-"

He never finished the sentence. Kaname broke into sobs and pushed her face into Sousuke's neck. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and leaned back, pulling him into bed with her. The young soldier held the crying girl gently for nearly ten minutes. Soon, she had used up all her tears and choked out a few dry sobs.

"What's wrong?" asked Sousuke.

Kaname didn't answer. The image of the crucified body, still fresh in her mind… It was like a hand was squeezing and crushing her heart, filling her with dread every time she thought of it.

"Sousuke…" Kaname whispered. "Have you… Have you ever seen death?"

What a stupid question, she thought to herself.

"Yes."

"What was it like… the first time you saw it up close?"

"I was very young so I did not understand it. It was just there. It just was."

Kaname closed her eyes.

"Have you seen your own death?"

"Yes. Many times."

"How old-"

"Six. I was separated from my group and I was ambushed by a group of bandits. I believe they wanted to eat me. They were starving."

"What happened?"

"They shot me several times and tried to finish me off. I was sure that I would die but I managed to kill one of them and blind another. I was able to crawl away and find my unit again."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"No… For how I've treated you. For everything I've done. Hitting you, yelling at you, ignoring you… It's unforgivable."

"I don't mind."

Kaname didn't pull out of Sousuke's arms, nor did he make any attempt to let her go. 

"Your fever appears to be down," Sousuke observed. 

"Sousuke. I'm scared."

The brown eyes that had seen hundreds of men die softened as they went over Kaname's face. 

"Of what?"

"I don't know. My dream…" She told him everything, from the destroyed city to the square and the cross and the soldier… Sousuke listened in silence.

When she had finished, Sousuke grunted. "You were delirious. Nothing more."

"You think?"

"Yes. There's no other reasonable explanation for it. Have you seen any strange movies lately? Perhaps the movie on the plane?"

Kaname yawned. "Maybe…"

Carefully, the young man disentangled himself from her. Kaname once again got under the covers, looking up at Sousuke.

"Thanks."

"I only did what I could."

Finally, Kaname smiled. "It doesn't matter… As long as you're near me, I can feel better."

Nodding, Sousuke replied. "I've felt that way for awhile."

And with that, he turned on his heels and left, leaving Kaname to get some more sleep.

~

It was finally evening. Kaname lay awake in her bed, staring up at the dark ceiling. Her mind was a total blank. Her fever was gone but it had taken its toll. She felt too tired to even think.

Then, the door to the room creaked open. Kaname was too tired to turn her head so her eyes pivoted over to see Tessa slip into the room.

"K-Kaname-san….?" whispered Tessa tentatively.

"Hey," Kaname whispered back.

"Oh, did I wake you?" Tessa asked quickly.

"Nah… What's up?"

"Well… Mrs. Weber said you were feeling sick so I thought…" She trailed off. "She wanted me to bring you food so…"

"I couldn't eat another bite if she forced me. And she probably will, won't she?" Kaname smiled slightly, still staring at the ceiling.

Tessa laughed a bit. "Since coming here, I've gained four pounds. I can't believe it…"

"What? How much did you weigh before?" Kaname sat up on her elbows a bit, her weariness fading.

Blushing a bit, Tessa said, "Ninety-nine pounds… but…"

Kaname laughed. "You can stand to eat as much as you want here. You know that, don't you?"

Tessa smiled back. "I guess you're right. When I was a Captain-" She paused. "When I was a Captain, I didn't always have time to eat so I guess I've been underweight."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, much the same way as six bottles of beer fill a College Freshman's stomach. That is to say, completely and about to burst.

"So, how's Sousuke?" Kaname blurted out. Tessa immediately blushed and turned away.

"I haven't talked to him much today…"

"But you talked to him last night, didn't you?"

Frowning in surprise, Tessa said, "How did you…?"

"I saw."

Again, the Drunken College Freshman Style Silence.

"I feel guilt because of it…" Tessa said softly.

"Guilty?"

"Yes… I feel like I took advantage of him. He's a lot like a child, you know? I told him I was cold just to get close to him… But that's the only way I could."

Kaname giggled. And then, she burst out laughing, covering her mouth with her hand.

"W-what's so funny?" demanded an incensed Tessa.

"That way you're acting… It's like you molested him."

"I didn't molest him!"

"You wouldn't know that from the way you act!" 

Both girls started giggling. Tessa covered her face with her hands, laughing hard.

"You're the worst!"

"Ha! Don't pretend you don't like it!"

The girls were laughing even harder now, any hard feelings forgotten. As she wiped the tears away from her eyes, Tessa's face lit up like a lamp.

"Kurtz's father will be coming here soon! You should come down to meet him?"

Kaname glanced across the room to a mirror. "My hair's a mess… And my face…"

"Then get ready now!" insisted Tessa, tossing the covers off Kaname. A few minutes later, she had washed her face, combed her hair and changed.

"There! Good as new!" Tessa said brightly.

And then, there was a great yelling noise.

"DUMBASS!"

~

When the two girls had gotten downstairs, they saw Kurtz, a nasty bruise the color of dirt on the side of his face, sprawled on the ground, a stocky, sweaty and balding white haired man dressed in a business suit standing over him.

"Now, explain to me one more time…" growled the man. "Why is Mithril trying to kill you?!"

"I don't know!" whined Kurtz. "I didn't do anything!"

"Well, you obviously did or else a great big secret para-military organization wouldn't be out to kill you!"

"Umm…"

The man looked up, noticing Kaname and Tessa for the first time.

"And who're these too?" He didn't yell this time.

"I-I'm There…Theresa… Testarossa…" stuttered Tessa.

"Chidori Kaname," Kaname said quickly.

"I hope my terminally stupid son didn't lure you two in here with promises of-"

"Goddammit, dad…"

Mr. Weber kicked his son in the face. "You'll speak when spoken to!"

"This is child abuse!"

"It isn't abuse when the child deserves it!" He smacked his son again.

"Just stop-"

"What was that? Did I hear a 'Please, sir, I want some more'?" yelled Mr. Weber winding up for another punch. Suddenly, someone behind him coughed and he glanced over his shoulder.

Standing there was Melissa, coughing, looking a bit vexed. And next to her was the biggest man either Tessa or Kaname had ever seen. Less a man than a giant, really. He stood nearly eight feet tall, with long blond hair that made him look like a model. Only, his face wasn't so much that of a model as that of a middle-aged Viking who had been on many a raid. In each hand, he held a large brief case.

"Weber, where should I put these?"

"Oh, my room is fine. I'll unpack when I'm done here."

The Viking lumbered off, carefully ducking to get through a doorway.

"Now, where was I…" Kurtz had started to crawl away and Mr. Weber leapt forward with surprising grace for a man of his size, grabbing the young man from behind. And Melissa coughed again.

"Yes?" said Mr. Weber, a bit annoyed that his son's beating was being delayed. Melissa saluted.

"I am former Sergeant Major Melissa Mao. Your son's superior."

Mr. Weber immediately sensed he had found a kindred soul. He grabbed Melissa's hand, shaking it vigorously.

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure you can understand…"

Melissa grinned. "Of course I can…" She turned away to kick Kurtz once as he again tried to crawl away. "But, I believe I can explain why we're all here better than Kurtz can…"

~

Ten minutes later, everyone, Sousuke and The Viking included, had assembled in the living room. Melissa explained as best she could, with Tessa's help, the predicament they were in. Mr. Weber scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Whatever the reason may be… It's obvious that you're all in a very dangerous position."

"Yes…" Tessa murmured, her attention distracted by the very large man who had just knocked over a small table accidentally.

"Oh, I haven't introduced my bodyguard yet. Snae-Ulf!"

The Viking looked up from where he was squatting (he was about the same size as a gorilla when he squatted), trying to pick the table up.

"Aye, Weber?"

Mr. Weber cleared his throat, beaming with pride. "May I present Snae-Ulf, arguably the largest and strong man in all of Europe! He's the only man I trust with my life. He's got enough strength to kill an elephant with his bare hands, let alone a group of assassins! He-"

"Inferiority complex?" whispered Melissa to Kurtz, who nodded.

"Paranoid too," whispered Snae-Ulf from where he knelt, now trying to put back together a bookshelf he had put his foot through when he wasn't looking.

Later, as they were about to get ready for bed, Tessa, Melissa and Kaname decided to do a bit of exploring. As they walked down one particularly long hallway, they came to a room, which featured Mr. Weber yelling at Kurtz in it.

"This should be good," Melissa whispered, pushing the door opened a crack so they could hear well. Not that it would've made a lot of difference.

"…and I'm not letting you go off an play soldier again!"

"But WHY?!" whined Kurtz.

"Kurtzle," another voice said. Mrs. Weber had taken a break from cooking, apparently. "Your father has a point. Why don't you settle down and get married? That nice Melissa girl…"

"Melissa?!" Kurtz yelled in pure disgust. "That'd be like marrying my own sister!"

"That bastard…" hissed Melissa. "I'll tear his balls off…"

"Well, what about the girl with the strange hair?"

"Which one? Kaname or Tessa?"

"My hair's not strange!" said Tessa, sounding a bit hurt. Kaname growled.

The arguing continued for a few more minutes before the three girls decided it was enough and went to bed.

~

Kaname was sleeping. Not just sleeping but sleeping well, something she hadn't done for several days. Alas, it was not to be.

She was woken by someone shaking her roughly. Sousuke.

"Chidori, we've got to go."

"Huh?"

"Mithril is mounting an attack on the Weber Estate. We don't have much time. Please, get up."

"Oh, god…" muttered Kaname as Sousuke heaved her out of bed and marched her downstairs.

Except for Sousuke (who apparently slept in his camouflage gear) and Mr. Weber, who was dressed in a strange hunting uniform, everyone wore their pajamas. For Kurtz, it was a simple T-shirt and a pair of boxers. Melissa wore what Kaname guessed was some nice underwear under the long nightshirt. And Tessa wore pink Bonta-kun pajamas.

"Ahh…" Mr. Weber said, as he slapped a magazine into a Luger and holstered it. Gunshots roared outside and the window in another room suddenly shattered. "I have felt this alive since… since… Rhodesia!"

Melissa gave Kurtz a "What the hell?" kind of look and he returned with a "Don't ask" kind of look.

"Mr. Weber," Sousuke began, as he did an operations check on his assault rifle. As it turned out, the Weber family had a great deal of firearms in the house… "You said you have developed a plan?"

"Ah, yes…" He smiled broadly. "The helicopter launch pad is roughly one kilometer from here. Snae-Ulf is already there, along with the other security guards so it should remain safe for now. If we can get there soon enough, we've won."

"Do we know how many troops they have?" asked Tessa. She was fastening a kevlar vest over her pajamas.

"As far as we can tell, between fifty and one hundred, as well as four Arm Slaves and several helicopters and tanks."

"Do we have any anti-tank or AS weapons on hand?"

"Beyond grenades, no."

"Damn…" Tessa shook her head slightly.

Kaname raised her hand slowly. "Umm… What's going on?"

Everyone but Sousuke ignored her. "Mithril is mounting-"

"Yeah I know but…"

"Put this on." He thrust a vest at her. The déjà vu hit her and Kaname just stared at the thing. Growing frustrated, Sousuke worked her arms into it and began fastening it.

"Don't worry," he whispered softly. "I'll protect you."

"Sousuke…"

But, then, it was like he had never said it. Soon, they were out the door and running for their lives through the dark forest.

~

Things didn't go well.

They were pinned down almost immediately. Using a car as a barricade, they were able to hold out for awhile.

"Dammit… This is hardly fair…" muttered Mr. Weber. He had chosen to use a hunting shotgun instead of something more practical...

"They haven't attacked with their Arm Slaves yet. We can be thankful for that…" whispered Tessa. She was shooting, her arms extended over the top of the car, blindly into the night. Next to her, Sousuke was silent as he fired burst after burst of automatic fire.

And Kaname was curled up in a ball, hating her life.

Soon, when a break in the shooting came, they started running again. And then they were pinned down again. And then, they ran again. And then, pinned down again. This time, using a few trees for cover.

"Bastards…" muttered Mr. Weber. Kurtz glanced at his father to see a dark red spot on his shoulder.

"Dad…"

The older man just glared at his son. "Listen to me," he said as he reloaded his two Lugers and the shotgun. "You've been a screw up so far in life. Change or else I'll come back to haunt you."

"What're you saying?"

Suddenly, Mr. Weber stood up.

"I'm saying that I'm going to go down in a blaze of glory and let you get away! RUN!"

Charging out from behind the trees, Mr. Weber pulled off the standard "run and gun" maneuver pioneered by such great men as Chow Yun Fat and John Woo. As he disappeared into the night, Kurtz stared, expressionless.

"Come on…" Melissa whispered, grabbing Kurtz's sleeve gently. With her help, he stumbled off after the rest of them.

Somewhere, at this point, Sousuke, who had been half-dragging Kaname, got lost. Perhaps he zigged when he should've zagged. Before long, he and Kaname would pinned down and low on ammunition.

"Chidori," Sousuke grunted, as he emptied another magazine. "I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up."

I am pathetic, Kaname thought to herself.

"I've only got one magazine left. Can you run, Chidori?"

Sousuke's always helping me. He's always protecting me. It's like I can't do anything for myself. I don't deserve this. I'm always horrible to him. Why?

"Chidori?" A bullet suddenly tore through the air, slicing into Sousuke's chest, shattering part of the kevlar vest. He gave a groan of surprise and fell back.

Thinking that they had killed him, the bullet was soon followed by two soldiers, dressed in full combat regalia. Sousuke, having dropped his rifle, drew his combat knife.

"Chidori! Run!"

He leapt forward at the first, bearing the bullets to the stomach well and striking quickly. The knife cut through the soldier's gut with ease. As he fell back, Sousuke pulled the knife out and spun, chopping through the other soldier's throat, but not before taking two pistol rounds to the waist.

"Chidori…" Sousuke wheezed, sinking to his knees. Kaname looked at him and gave a yelp. She crawled over to him.

"Sousuke…" she whispered.

"Run…"

Even as he's dying, he tries to save me. I hate this… Kaname thought. Slowly, she pulled Sousuke close to her, trying to shield him with her own body. He pushed her away.

"Run!" he ordered. With new found strength, he picked up his rifle and took aim. When she didn't run, he looked at her fiercely, his eyes, blurred by blood, blazing. 

"Chidori, run and don't look back. If you're captured…"

"I don't care! I don't care if I die! I don't care if I'm captured! I just don't give a damn! Can't you see?"

Sousuke didn't, apparently.

"Sousuke…" The tears were running freely now. "I only care about you. Don't you understand? I… really like you… So, you can't die now… Because… because…" Suddenly, a bit of her old self shone through the funk. "Because if you do, I'll never ever EVER forgive you! Do you understand? We still need to watch The Godfather together! And you have to pay!"

Sousuke was totally speechless for a few moments. Then, he grinned.

"Understood."

And then, the side of his head exploded into blood.

"Sousuke…"

As his body crumpled, Kaname tried to grab it but it slipped out of her fingers.

"Sousuke…"

The soldiers, realizing that the only resistance was dead, began to move in.

"Sousuke…"

They hailed her now.

"Surrender and you won't be hurt!"

And then, Kaname snapped.

Slowly, she stood up, looking at the soldiers closing in on her. An Arm Slave and two helicopters were backing them up.

"We repeat. Surrender now and-"

And then, the Arm Slave blew up. Kaname smiled.

"You've just made a very, very, very big mistake…" she whispered as the helicopters smashed into the ground…

~

In Italy, Padre sat at his desk, feet up, reviewing a file.

"Sagara Yamato… A decorated Japanese colonel, pilot and kenjutsu master. Famous for his ruthlessness, skill and determination in combat. Believed to have personally killed over five hundred enemy combatants in the ground war and shot down forty-three enemy air craft."

Padre smiled.

"But, alas, he was killed during the fierce fighting on pacific island. After charging an American squad and being badly wounded, he limped back to the airfield and took off, managing to crash into a support ship, sinking it. But his sacrifice had more far reaching effects… During the last few months of the war, he was elevated to God-like status among the Imperial soldiers. It was believed that if you painted his name on your plane, his spirit would guide you to victory from beyond the grave."

Padre gave a short, bitter laugh.

"Amazing how history repeats itself…"

At that moment, a young man peeked into the room.

"Your holiness, the Prime Minister of France is here for his appointment. And… they've delivered… 'her'…"

Pope John Paul III smiled. "Excellent."

End of Chapter Six

Author's Notes: Wow. Actually finished this one sorta' quickly. I can't really think of a whole lot to say beyond this: The plot is going to get really deep from here on out. Expect to see, among other things, the relationship between Tessa, Sousuke and Kaname resolved, Pradre's "true" identity revealed, the secret history of Mithril and, finally, the true nature of the Whispered.

Plus, there's gonna' be a really big battle. And the death of one of the most hated figures in America today.


	7. Chapter Seven: Beyond Good and Evil

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Panic. Any similarities between the characters and events of this story and those in real life are purely coincidental. 

Chapter Seven: Beyond Good and Evil

Kaname was really beginning to despise this cycle of waking up in a dazed confusion.

She was lying on a small bed in a small room with no windows. It was dark. And, she realized, there was a man sitting near her, smiling.

The lights flickered on and she got a good look at his face. He was perhaps in his mid-fifties, with graying hair. Reasonably tall. Of European descent. He looked quite familiar.

And then, realization hit Kaname.

"Good morning, Miss Chidori," the man said pleasantly.

"What the hell…?" Kaname whispered.

"What's wrong?"

"Who…?"

The man grinned and stood up to his full height.

"I am Augustine Madaseloma. The High Commander of Mithril."

"But you're…"

"And also, Pope John Paul the Third of the Roman Catholic Church."

Kaname didn't say anything for several moments.

"Did I… hit my head really hard or something?"

"Not according to our records. Would you like something to drink? Soda? Tea? Wine?"

"No… no… This isn't happening…"

Kaname put her head in her hands. Augustine laughed.

"I assure you, it is. I imagine you must be more than a bit perplexed at the events of the past few days."

"No," Kaname muttered. "No. I've been attacked by commandos, flown to Germany with weapons, attacked by commandos again, kidnapped by a super-secret para-military organization and now, I've found out that the head of said organization is the Pope. No, I do this every week. Some people commute, I get embroiled in international webs of intrigue."

Augustine stared at Kaname. He pointed his finger at her.

"That's funny." He smiled. "If you'll come walk with me, I'll answer your questions."

Since she didn't have much of a choice, she figured, Kaname stood up. Just before they were about to leave the room, though, she spoke.

"Where are we?"

"Vatican City, Rome. We're in Mithril's Headquarters, underneath St. Peter's Cathedral."

"Just checking."

~

As they walked through the corridors, most of which were decorated with various religious pieces of artwork, Augustine spoke.

"I suppose I'll start at the beginning. That way, everything will have continuity. It's a long story, though. Are you sure you don't want something to drink? You might not be old enough to drink in Japan but here, it's alright."

"Maybe later," Kaname sighed. The thought of wine suddenly reminded her of blood. And blood reminded her of…

"What happened to Sousuke?"

"Sousuke?"

"Sagara Sousuke. He was with me at the Weber Estate. He…" The events of the previous night came rushing at her like a train rushes at a car stalled on the tracks. "Oh my god…"

"Sagara? All our reports show he was killed but, for reasons you'll soon understand, we didn't have the luxury of sticking around to check."

"So… He could still be alive?"

"In theory, yes."

Kaname gave a sigh of relief. Sousuke had survived worse… hadn't he?

"Anyway," Augustine began. "Mithril was formed in 1949, along with the United Nations. From the beginning, it was a secret. There are perhaps five hundred people in the world not affiliated with Mithril who know of its existence. Mithril was originally formed to serve as the UN's 'Hand of God' in world affairs. Essentially, to fight terrorists, communists, fascists and other unpleasant '-ists.' In addition, the UN had a special interest in the Whispered, which they believed to be the final evolution of humanity. Therefore, Mithril also has the task of researching, protecting and, need be, controlling the Whispered. Do you follow?"

Kaname took a deep breath. "Do you really expect me to believe all this?"

Augustine laughed. "It's far out but-"

"It's not just far out! It's like Gundam! What, is the UN made up of a bunch of otaku who try to play out their favorite anime in real life? Let me guess: The Whispered have super psychic powers and you want to manipulate them to further your own ambitions! And you'll develop kinds of super giant robots to do it. And there'll be some young teenage hero who defies the odds and defeats you."

"Bingo. Except for the last part. We've gone to great lengths to kill any young teenage heroes who might defeat us."

"Oh god…" muttered Kaname, putting her head in her hands.

"You're right, though. It does sound like a bad movie but this is real."

"What about Sousuke?"

"What about him?"

"He could be the young teenage hero."

"He may very well be dead. And even then, I doubt he's in any condition to be a young teenage hero. Can we get off the subject now?"

Kaname sighed. "Yeah. Whatever."

"Right then. Anyway, over the years, Mithril has become less and less dependent on the UN. Now, we have our own sources of funding and equipment. We don't need them. Therefore…"

"You're planning a coup against them, aren't you?"

"How did you know?" asked Augustine, surprised.

"Lucky guess…" Kaname sighed.

"Well, to be fair, we not planning a coup against just the UN but the entire world. You see, with the Whispered… Mithril has the capacity to take on, not only the UN but the United States and the Soviet Union as well."

Kaname stopped walking. "What?"

Augustine grinned. "Not directly, of course. The trick is to force the United States and the Soviet Union to fight one another first. And then, once the bodies begin piling up, we, with our advanced technology, will have no trouble defeating both."

"Oh god…"

"And then, when the two super powers are crippled, who's left to take the spoils of war? Mithril."

"So, you're taking over the world? Isn't that cliched? Not to mention insane. And you're supposed to be the Pope."

"Cliched? Yes. Dozens of rulers throughout history have tried it. I'm not insane, I'm just human. It's natural and, might I say, healthy to desire power. Just like Napolean or Caeser-"

"Or Hitler," Kaname added.

"We don't like to use the 'H-Word' around here. Some of our employees have had bad experiences with him and others… worked for him," whispered Augustine. Kaname just shook her head sadly.

"And think about it: Would you ever expect the Pope? It's the perfect alibi and it gives me an excuse to be a presence in world politics. Moreover, it gives me access to the sizable resource of the church. But, getting away from that, Mithril's technology is, at the very least, twenty years beyond anything else the world has seen. There's no way the armies of the United States or Russia could stand up against us."

"Great…"

"Isn't it? It's all thanks to the Black Technology of the Whispered. Are you familiar with the Lambda Driver? That's one of the most powerful applications of Black Technology."

Kaname sighed again. "And what does all of this have to do with me?

"You are a Whispered. And a very special one at that. Here, this room…"

He opened a door on the side of the hall that looked a whole lot like all the other doors they had passed.

"I'm going to show you something very interesting now."

~

When Sousuke awoke, he was in a dizzy, heavy world of pain. He tried to sit up but his waist was too sore. He groaned and lay back on the bed, closing his eyes, trying to fall back asleep so he could forget the pain.

"Bonjour, Kashim," a smooth voice said off to the side. Sousuke froze and slowly turned his head. Sitting next to his was Gauron.

As he started to scream, Gauron started to laugh.

~

"Now, Miss Chidori, what do you remember of last night, during the flight from the Weber Estate?"

Kaname shrugged.

"Not much. I remember Sousuke getting…" She couldn't finish the sentence.

"Well, we were able to recover the video of the last moments of the battle. It's something I think you'll be quite interested in."

The room was a sort of meeting room you find in office buildings. There was a large table with chairs all around it and a projection screen on the far wall. Augustine pulled a small remote out of his pocket, clicked it and a small projector attached to the ceiling started to roll.

The film was scratchy and there was no sound. Kaname made out herself. She was standing and five soldiers were approaching her slowly.

And, suddenly, an Arm Slave appeared behind them. It opened fire on the soldiers who panicked. Then, the Armored Slave blew up, crumpling on top of the soldiers. A helicopter streaked past the camera before crashing into the ground, right on top of an armored car.

The carnage continued for several minutes as the Mithril forces methodically wiped themselves out. Kaname watched, entranced, because she knew without being told that it was she who had done it.

When the film cut off, Kaname looked to Augustine, as though begging for a realistic explanation of what happened. The Pope just smiled.

"Congratulations, Miss Chidori. You annihilated 95% of our attacking forces single handedly. The only reason we could capture you was because you fainted from exertion."

Kaname squeezed her eyes shut, as though that would change things. "Impossible…"

"This phenomenon of yours… it mimics the abilities of a Lambda Driver almost perfectly. Do you know what this means?"

He didn't even give Kaname a chance to answer.

"It means you are a Human Lambda Driver. The Ultimate Whispered. It's one thing to have secret knowledge locked away in your mind. It's quite another to be able to use that knowledge. The Lambda Driver, though difficult to use correctly, is the ultimate weapon of mass destruction because its abilities aren't limited to destruction. It changes the fabric of reality to reflect the wishes and desires of the user. Therefore, if the user was able to desire it enough, he… or she… could simply cause an enemy country to disappear off the face of the earth. Or cause the population to disappear, leaving the resources for plunder. Incredible, isn't it?"

Kaname didn't answer. She couldn't. Her throat refused to produce words.

"But you… You don't require external devices to used the Lambda Driver. Your body, for whatever reason, is built differently than those of normal humans. You are a Lambda Driver and, in moments of high emotional stress, can use its abilities with little difficulty. You, Miss Chidori, are the most perfect weapon humanity as every seen."

Without warning, Kaname stood up suddenly, knocking back her chair.

"No! No, there's no proof! I'm… I'm not!" yelled Kaname. Tears started to swell in her eyes. "That's bullshit! I'm… I'm just a normal girl… I'm…"

"No," said Augustine, grinning. "You're not a normal girl. You're a very, very special girl."

~

"Oh, what's wrong Kashim?" asked Gauron, leering at Sousuke. He leaned closer to him and the boy soldier kicked him away frantically.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" he demanded angrily.

"I'm here to… protect you…" Gauron said, chuckling as though it were some great joke.

"He's been keeping an eye on you for the past day," Melissa said as the light flickered on. She entered the room and walked purposefully over to Sousuke, feeling his forehead.

"Good. No fever. How do you feel?"

"What's going on?"

"You were badly wounded. You're in the Tuatha de Danaan infirmary."

Sousuke looked around slowly.

"The Tuatha de Danaan… Major-"

"We're not in Mithril anymore, remember? Mao is fine."

Sousuke nodded. "Mao, what is going on? What happened? Where's… where's Chidori?"

Melissa sighed sadly.

"It's a long story."

~

"There's one thing I want to know. Why did you go after Sousuke?" asked Kaname as they left the projection room. "What made him such a big threat?"

"I imagine you figured something like, he's so madly in love with you-" Kaname flushed. "-that he'd go above and beyond the call of duty to protect you? Not quite. Are you familiar with a man named Sagara Yamato?"

"I know the name… Wasn't he a war hero or something?"

"The War Hero. During the Pacific War, Sagara Yamato was a decorated colonel whose exploits were legendary. As propaganda, the Imperial Government broadcast tales of his bravery to inspire the Japanese people. Things like Sagara wiping out a platoon with only his sword. It wasn't too far from the truth.

"He died a few months before the end of the war by driving his fighter into a US ship. Or so they say. It's a little known fact but Sagara's plane was commandeered by another pilot for use. However, it was better for propaganda if Sagara were dead. He could become a 'God of War' that way. Do you understand?"

"Sagara…" Kaname said slowly. "Is he related to Sousuke?"

"You catch on quickly. Sagara Yamato survived the war. He only married, however, in the '80s. He had a single son before dying."

"Sousuke."

Augustine grinned. "Bingo. Sagara Sousuke. The only off spring of the great Sagara Yamato. Being a perfect soldier is in his genes, you might say. Want to know another little known fact? Sagara Yamato was also a notorious war criminal. Most likely, he faked his own death so as to avoid being prosecuted by the Americans after the war. He was a totally ruthless and cruel warrior but he wasn't stupid. He realized that the Japanese couldn't keep fighting against the American Juggernaut."

Kaname closed her eyes. "I don't give a damn who Sousuke's father was. He's not like him. If you think that, you're a dumbass."

"But how well do you really know Sousuke?"

Kaname opened her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Being ruthless. Being cruel. Killing. It all is in his blood. It's his nature, even though he doesn't know it. Being in Mithril means being restrained. You have to be civilized, even in life or death combat. What do you think would happen if, suddenly, he wasn't civilized anymore? You already know that he has few emotions. But what-"

"Shut. Up."

Augustine grinned again. "Oh, did I hit a nerve?"

"Fuck off," growled Kaname from between gritted teeth. "Sousuke's a great guy and nothing you say will change that."

"There's another thing. In the '60s, with the Vietnam War raging, Japan began to tamper with genetic cloning with the United States' approval. What do you think they were trying to make?"

"I don't know and I don't care."

"A mass produced perfect soldier. And whose DNA do you think they used?"

"Bob Hope's?"

"Close. Yamato Sagara. And…" Augustine smiled that shit eating "I Know Something You Don't Know" smile that arrogant people have. "What do you think they called the project?"

"Like I said… I don't care."

"They called it Project Gauron."

Kaname froze.

~

"So," Sousuke said slowly, recapping the events of the past day. "After Chidori and I were separated from the group, I was badly shot and blacked out. When you found me, Chidori was gone. He-" Sousuke gave Gauron a dirty look. "-was the helicopter pilot Mr. Weber, who also died, had arrange for?"

"That's about it," Melissa nodded.

Sousuke sighed.

"And what happened to the Tuatha de Danaan after Testarossa escaped?"

"Kalinin and Mardukas got in touch with Gauron and together, they figured out more or less what's happening. We're in the Mediterranean Sea now."

"You said that they would've taken Chidori to Mithril's Headquarters. Where's that?"

"Vatican City in Rome," Gauron said smiling.

Sousuke stared at Gauron.

"It might be a shock but…" Melissa said carefully. "The High Commander of Mithril is also Pope John Paul III."

Sousuke now stared at Melissa.

"It makes sense, I guess. Nobody would ever suspect the Pope," she said, sighing.

"Nor is it the first time a Pope has had a hand in something like this…" added Gauron.

Sousuke shook his head, trying to take in all this information.

"Is there a rescue operation planned?"

"Yes," replied Melissa firmly. "Tomorrow. You won't be going on it so don't-"

"I have to."

"No, you don't. You are in no condition to pilot or do much of anything. All things considered, you should be dead. It's literally a miracle that you're still alive. Maybe you didn't notice but your skull was almost spilt in half. You lost nearly 50% of your body's blood supply. You're just lucky that Gauron's the same blood type as you."

Sousuke's face took on a horrified look.

"I'm not surprised he's still alive," said Gauron coolly, the Cheshire grin still on his face. "When someone has strong feelings tying him to this world, he can go to the brink of death and beyond and still return."

Melissa sighed. "Even so, Sousuke shouldn't be allowed to go. Even if he's still alive, he'll have trouble walking for awhile."

"So I'll pilot."

"No! The stresses of piloting would be almost as bad."

"I'm the only one who can pilot the Arbalest. If I use the Lambda Driver in combat, it'll give us an advantage."

"But such a large advantage that you'd risk dying for it?" interjected Gauron. Sousuke nodded solemnly.

"Let him go, then," Gauron stated simply.

Melissa scowled. "I don't care about whatever macho 'I'll Go Into Battle With My Spleen Sticking Out' ideals you two have. If you go to fight, even if you win, there's no guarantee that your body will be able to stand the stress."

"But," Gauron said slowly. "That's the same for any battle."

"…what?"

"It's the same in any battle. There are soldiers who die of heart attacks. It's the same for life. From the day we're born, we're always slowly creeping towards our deaths. To die is to be human. Kashim knows and understands the risks. It's his own decision. Let him."

"He won't do us any good if he dies out there," Melissa said stubbornly.

Gauron laughed. "I've seen the plan. It's suicide. You know it too. Mirthril Headquarters… They have dozens and dozens of Arm Slaves. And what do we have? A handful of pilots and barely enough units to go around. The most we can hope for is to do enough damage to them to cripple them for the next few years."

Melissa sighed. "Even so…"

"But the Lambda Driver… Anything is possible with it. I know. Even if we lose, Kashim could destroy the city. Mutual destruction may very well be the best we can hope for."

Melissa bowed her head, deep in thought. Then…

"Sousuke. Is it for Kaname?"

"What?"

"You want to go… To save Kaname, right?"

"Yes."

"A young man will sacrifice his very soul for love…" smiled Gauron.

Melissa stood up suddenly.

"I'm writing my recommendation that you not be allowed to participate."

Sousuke watched, too tired to argue as she scribbled on a piece of paper for a moment. Gauron smiled. As Melissa finished, she tore it up and tossed it in the trash.

"It's not my fault if it doesn't get to the Kalinin or Mardukas in time," she muttered as she stalked out of the room.

After she left, Gauron turned his grin on Sousuke. "Kashim, are you ready to meet your destiny?"

"Why are you helping us?" Sousuke asked, glaring at him.

"Because I love you, Kashim," he laughed. "And… I'm paying back an old friend for something he did to me a long time ago."

~

"Project Gauron?"

"Yes. They named the very first clone Gauron. Now, I believe he's a terrorist. It took me awhile to understand it, though…" Augustine said, chuckling. "You see, I was one of the scientists who worked on it. Mithril had a hand in the development of the 'Ultimate Weapon' against the Red Menace."

"No way… So, Gauron is Sousuke's…"

"Biologically speaking, they'd be father and son. However, I doubt they would consider themselves as such. Come on, there's one more thing I want to show you."

They finished up the hall at an elevator and got in. Augustine punched in some keys and they were going down to the eighth and lowest level of the compound.

When the doors over, Kaname gasped in spite of herself. They were in a huge hangar, dozens of Arm Slaves lined up next to one another. Workers and pilots of all ages and ethnicities milled around the robots.

"Incredible, isn't it?" Augustine said, chuckling. "Here alone we have fifty of our standard Armored Slaves. More than enough to repel any direct attack made by the United States or Russia. But that's not all…"

They stepped onto a sort of moving sidewalk like those at air ports and they were off. It took about a minute for them to get across the hangar and they entered a second one. 

There were fewer Arm Slaves in this one. Perhaps twelve or so. Kaname recognized them as being similar to the one Sousuke piloted…

"And these," Augustine said proudly. "Are our Arbalest Mass Production Types. Almost as powerful as the unit Sagara used in battle. Although their conventional performance isn't as good, they have a mass-produced Lambda Driver installed that more than makes up for any deficiencies there. But, this isn't the pride of our operation. Do you want to see it?" Augustine was like a little child with a secret he couldn't wait to tell someone. They continued along the moving sidewalk till they got into the third hangar.

Only two AS were in this one. The first looked a lot like the Arbalests except it was A.) Bigger and B.) Had wings. The other looked like no Arm Slave Kaname had ever seen. If she had to compare it to something, she thought perhaps a European knight in full formal armor. It was certainly more elegant and beautifully designed than any other AS she had seen.

"This one," Augustine said, pointing at the winged AS. "Is the Arbalest Mark II. The performance is increased nearly three fold over the original prototype. Not only that but it can support a wider variety of conventional weaponry. However, this unit was designed around its Lambda Driver. It's almost ten times as powerful and sensitive as the original. Plus, it has sensors to gauge the strength and negate the effects of enemy Lambda Drivers."

"So, it's designed to counteract Lambda Driver units?" Kaname asked, not really interested in the Arbalest Mk. II. She was more interested in the beautiful knight…

"Exactly. And this…" Noticing Kaname's interest, he pointed to the knight AS. "This is the Gnostic. Do you know what makes this one special?"

Kaname shook her head.

"It has no controls in the cockpit. It's controlled totally through the Lambda Driver. As a result, only a Whispered can pilot it. The result, though, is that its overall performance is incredible and, of course, the Lambda Driver is more powerful than even the Mk. II's. And this, Miss Chidori, is where you come in."

Kaname eyed him strangely. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Augustine said slowly. "I want you to pilot this."

~

Now that Sousuke was actually participating in the operation, he was busy getting ready. It had been enough trouble to get out of bed but once he did so, he found that he didn't have so much trouble getting around. He could use his hands and feet just as well as before and, he reasoned, as long as he stuck to piloting, that's all he needed.

As it turned out, Gauron had expected that Sousuke would be going and had packed his satchel for him before hand. Sousuke, ever suspicious of the older man, blew it up in a safe area and packed his own. It was while he was packing that Tessa visited him.

"Sagara," she said simply as she entered the room. She had long since changed out of the Bonta-kun pajamas.

Sousuke looked up. "Testarossa. Will you be taking part in the operation?"

"I'll be commanding. I heard that you're going along."

"Yes."

"Even though you're injured?"

"Yes."

Tessa looked away. "I won't let you."

"What?"

When she turned back to look at him, Tessa's eyes were streaming. She gritted her teeth.

"I won't let you go!"

"Why not?"

"If you do… You'll die… Sagara, I can't lose you."

"I won't die."

"Just because you say that doesn't make it true!" Tessa yelled. She dove on the bed next to Sousuke and looked up at him fiercely. "I already thought I lost you once… I won't lose you again!"

Sousuke looked at her sadly but then went back to packing his bag.

"Humans are so fragile…" Tessa whispered. "I just know it… If you go, you'll die. Even if you just pilot."

"It's something I have to do."

"No! No, it's not! Sagara… Sagara… This isn't a war we're fighting here!" Tessa squeezed her eyes shut. "In a war, either side can win. We can't win this. We lost from the day it began. All we can hope for is-"

"…mutual destruction? The Tuatha de Danaan will be using nuclear weapons if the battle goes badly?"

Tessa's eyes widened. "How…?"

"I guessed," Sousuke said nonchalantly as he kept backing his bag. He put his trusty Glock in last and zipped it up. Then, he turned to look at her.

"This is something I must do. You said it yourself. We have already lost this war so what does it matter if I die? I'll die one day. This way, however, I'll be able to die doing my duty. Right now, that's all I can ask for."

Something inside of Tessa snapped. She leaned forward, grabbed Sousuke by the cheeks, careful of his scars and kissed him. It was the kind of kiss you see in the movies. Tongue and all.

After a few moments, she pulled away. The lip balm she had been wearing was smeared across Sousuke's lips. She couldn't read the expression on his face but it seemed like he understood.

"It's for her, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"You. Going out there to fight. You're doing it for Kaname, aren't you?"

"Yes."

Tessa closed her eyes. "Why does it have to be like this? What did we do wrong? Why do we end up killers and soldiers while people like Kaname get a normal life?"

"I don't know." Sousuke slung the bag over his shoulder carefully. "However… I'll gladly be a soldier and a killer if I can assure that people like Chidori don't have to be."

And with that, he saluted Tessa and marched towards the door. He stopped there and hesitated.

"Tesatarossa, I have trouble understanding emotions. I can't understand my own and I don't understand yours or Chidori's. However…" He glanced at her over his soldier. "If Chidori didn't exist, I wouldn't be here right now. But, if she didn't exist… You…" He never finished the sentence. He turned back around and left for the hangar.

Tessa stared at the door for a second. Then, she let herself fall and onto the bed and began to cry.

End of Chapter Seven

Author's Notes: Wow. Not even twenty four hours since the last chapter was posted and the new one is done. The things one can do on a day off… Anyway, the story will soon be resolved. Look for more violence, more angst, more vague religious references and more deep monologues!

And, for the record, the Pope in this story is not the same as the current Pope. Although it probably won't be explained in the story, Pope John Paul III/Augustine takes over after the death of Pope John Paul II/Karol Wojtyla during the infamous assassination attempt in the '80s.

Oh, and, as a note, if anyone knows of a place I can get ahold of Bad Company or Shonen Junai Gumi, the two prequels to GTO by Tohru Fujisawa, I'd be most obliged. Onizuka j00.


	8. Chapter Eight: Away to the Whispered

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Panic. Any similarities between the characters and events of this story and those in real life are purely coincidental. And, if you believe that, you get a cookie for being such a good little boy/girl.

Chapter Eight: Away to the Whispered

"You know what I want?" Kaname said coolly. "A new Bonta-kun doll. I think you guys shot up my old one when you broke into my apartment." With that, she turned and started back towards the moving sidewalk.

There was a clicking sound as Augustine drew his pistol. He aimed it at Kaname's back. "I had a feeling you would say something like that."

"Go ahead and kill me. But you'll be killing the 'Human Lambda Driver', won't you?"

"You're right. But…" Augustine smiled. "Your sister and father live in New York, correct? Brooklyn, I believe."

Kaname went pale.

"It would be such a tragedy if their apartment building happened to… collapse one night…"

Spinning around, Kaname clutched at her head. "You bastard! What the hell do you want from me? What the hell are you doing?" Her eyes started to break into tears. She looked up at him, wanting nothing more than to tear out his throat. She wished she had the knife from her kitchen that she used to kill that one soldier… "Do… do you really think you can play with people's lives like this?!"

"Miss Chidori, life is a game. We all play it whether we know it or not. And in this game, there are no rules. The simple truth is, I've played the game better than you or anyone else. And all I'm doing is setting up my final move to win."

Kaname looked into Augustine's eyes, daring him to blink first, like Sousuke had done to her. Much to both of their surprise, he was the first to blink.

"Go to hell."

Augustine smiled cheerfully. "Yes, well, I'll give you an hour to decide. Just stay put here. Ciao."

He pushed her off the moving sidewalk and slid out of the room. A steel door came down, sealing off the exit.

"Goddammit…" muttered Kaname. She collapsed, burying her face in her hands and starting to sob. "Goddammit, goddammit, goddammit…"

"C'mon… Don't cry anymore."

Kaname looked up. There was a girl standing before her, about her age, with long red hair. She was quite pretty and wore what looked like a nightgown.

"Because…" The girl knelt down and wrapped her arms around Kaname. "There's someone looking for you right now. Dying to see you… So don't cry…"

"Sousuke?" gasped Kaname.

The girl smiled. "Yes. His whole being is focused on saving you. So don't be scared…"

"He's alive?"

"You'll have to be brave…" The girl hugged Kaname tighter, putting one hand behind her head. "Because the fate of the world rests on your shoulders…"

"I don't want it to…"

"Don't worry. Sousuke. He'll bear the burden with you… Can you feel it? He's thinking about you right now…"

She could feel it. It was like a tingle on the back of her neck. Sousuke, worrying about her. Getting ready to rescue her. A warm, comforted feeling filled Kaname.

The girl let go and smiled. "There is no such thing as pre-determined fate. Each person controls her own destiny." She leaned forward and kissed Kaname's forehead. "You can make your own future. For you and for Sousuke."

The girl stood up and started to walk away. She stopped suddenly in mid-step and looked at Kaname, still smiling.

"He said they live in Brooklyn… But… Doesn't your family live in Manhattan?" 

Kaname's eyes widened and the girl, her smile still present, slipped off into the shadows cast by the Arm Slaves.

~

"Sagara, you understand that you do not have to do this, correct? No one would think any less of you if you stayed behind," Kalinin said to Sousuke as they walked towards the hangar.

"I feel it's my duty."

"Something like this is not called for in a soldier's duty."

"I didn't say it was my duty as a soldier."

Kalinin allowed himself a small smile. "Understood. Now that you're participating in this operation, we'll be changing it slightly. We've received new parts for the Arbalest."

They reached the Tuatha de Danaan's hangar and the doors slid open. In the middle stood the Arbalest. Only, now, it had what looked almost like a metal coat over it.

"The Full Armor Arbalest," Kalinin said. "Mithril originally intended to confiscate the Arbalest, tear out the operating system and use it with one of their other pilots along with this."

Sousuke stared up at it. In addition to the extra armor, it had a pair of folded wings and cannons mounted over the shoulders.

"Sagara," Kalinin said solemnly. "You know as well as anyone that, with these kinds of odds, you're the only one who stands a chance."

Sousuke didn't reply.

"We're giving you an edge out there. You'll have to hold the enemy at bay while our agents get inside to rescue Kaname. Afterwards, we'll retreat and launch our missiles. However, there's a chance that the Tuatha de Danna will be destroyed before Kaname is secured. In that case… The Full Armor Arbalest is equipped with eight nuclear missiles. If we're sunk before we can launch them, it's up to you to end this."

"This will be the second time in history that nuclear weapons have been used," Sousuke said softly, as though talking to himself. 

"I understand if you don't want to go. We can send the missiles with someone else. You stand the best chance of surviving however so…"

"I'll go," Sousuke said calmly. "Upload the files on the new weapons. I want to become familiar with them before the battle."

"Sagara…" Kalinin said slowly. "One more thing. Gauron disappeared this morning. We're not sure but-"

"He's defected."

"It's not certain but-"

Sousuke shook his head. "If I encounter him, I will kill him. I don't have time to play with people like him." With that, Sousuke saluted. Kalinin returned the salute slowly.

Not far away from the two men, Kurtz sat, leaning against the foot of his AS, listening to a CD and sipping a can of beer. Suddenly, he was hit in the head with a pack of cigarettes.

"Got a light?" asked Melissa, sitting down next to him.

"Aren't these things bad for you?" muttered Kurtz as he tossed away his head phones and pulled out his lighter. He lit one cigarette, handed it to Melissa and took another for himself.

"Does it really matter?"

Kurtz didn't answer. He took a long drag off the cigarette and sighed. Melissa put her head on his shoulder.

"Wha-"

"Shut up."

"But-"

"Shut. Up."

And so he did. And there the two sat until it was time to launch, smoking their cigarettes, Melissa leans on Kurtz.

~

At 1700 hours Rome time, the forces of the Tuatha de Danaan launched. Fourteen M-9's, plus the Arbalest, soared over the historic city and landed with an unceremonial "thump" in the middle of the Vatican.

Back on the Tuatha de Danaan, Tessa sat in front of a camera, several crewmen getting things ready. A copy of her speech to the world lay on her lap. Her thoughts, however, weren't on the words she was about to speak to billions of people, translated in real time into dozens of different languages. They were on a brown haired Japanese boy in a giant robot.

"Captain, are you ready?"

"Yes."

The camera started to roll and the Tuatha de Danaan hacked its way into each and every television and radio signal in the world.

"Ladies and gentleman of the international community," Tessa began. "My name is Theresa Testarossa. I have come to you tonight to speak about a matter of great importance. In a few minutes, a battle in the center of the Vatican in Rome, Italy will begin."

~

Kaname was sitting on the floor, tapping her fingers against the cold concrete floor when Augustine came back in, a small, portable television in his hand.

"Well?" he asked, expectantly.

"Yes."

"Good! Excellent! Now, take a look at this." He tossed her the TV. When Kaname looked, she gasped in surprise. Tessa was on TV.

~

In Washington D.C., President George W. Bush was busy doing one of his favorites things: Playing Starcraft over the internet.

"No!" Dubya yelled. "Rush! Rush! Zerg Rush!"

"Umm… Mr. President?" asked a secret serviceman, timidly.

"What?!" yelled the President, not taking his eyes off his game. The serviceman turned on a TV in the oval office, bring up a picture of Tessa.

"You'd better take a look at this…"

~

In New York, at FOX Headquarters, Geraldo Rivera sat glued to the television in his office. He grabbed at his phone with trembling hands and pressed a speed dial button.

"Get me a plane to Rome!"

~

"It's very difficult for me to explain so much is such a short period of time but I will do my best. Along with the creation of the UN in 1949, a secret organization came into being. Christening it Mithril, the UN intended for it to be their 'secret hand' in world politics.

"Before long, Mithril became more powerful and more technologically advanced than any country in the world. And now, Mithril intends to use its influence to drive the Soviet Union and the United States to war and, when both super powers are crippled, take control of the world. The fiasco in North Korea last week was an example of this.

"Mithril has the capacity to do this because of the Whispered. The Whispered could very well be the next evolution of humankind. For now, though, they are people who have genetic memories locked into their minds from birth. These memories, more often than not, involve highly advanced scientific principles and theories far beyond anything we've discovered. These theories can be applied to create 'Black Technology' which, essentially, defies the laws of physics and science as we know it.

"Mithril originally sought to protect the Whispered but, over the past year, has begun kidnapping them to further their technology and ambitions. If this is allowed to continue, Mithril will be able to put its plan into action before Christmas.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what we are looking at is a future with a one world government. Complete and total fascism. If we were to combine the worst aspects of Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia and place it on a global scale… This is what we would have.

"Currently, I am onboard the Tuatha de Danaan, a highly advanced nuclear submarine. Originally a part of Mithril, this vessel and its crew have deserted, myself included. Mithril's intentions are not something we can advocate, condone or even sit by idly and watch. It is because of this that we are striking at the heart of Mithril, in an attempt to destroy the center of the organization.

"Ladies and gentleman, this is not a hoax. Anyone living in Rome can attest to that. I've just received word that our forces have touched down in the Vatican. I would like to take this moment to assure the world that this is not a vendetta against the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, the head of Mithril is and has been for the past fifty years, the Pope. It may sound unbelievable but it's the truth. Without even realizing it, the world has been under the indirect influence of Mithril through the church.

"Ladies and gentleman, this is not just America or Russia's problem. This is not just Italy or even Europe's problem. This is a global problem. The sovereignty of every nation on this planet is threatened today. Democracy as we know it may die out. I chose, as did my comrades, to be a soldier and to fight for what I believe in. It is because of that decision that I come before you today. I, representing the Tuatha de Danaan and its crew, hereby declare war on Mithril and all her allies. As much as it pains me to do so, we will almost certainly be required to use nuclear weapons so I warn any nation thinking of intervening on the behalf of Mithril to desist.

"And now, I leave you with images of the battle being fought. If you have small children, please send them out of the room. I ask that you all, no matter what your faith, keep the brave young men and women fighting and dying for your future and your children's future in your prayers. Thank you."

As she signed off and the technicians switched the input from the bridge of the Tuatha de Danaan to St. Peter's Cathedral, Tessa sighed.

"Sagara…" she whispered.

~

All over the world, anti-government and Mithril riots broke out. In New York, a mob stormed the headquarters of the UN as the representatives there attempted to burn incriminating documents before it was too late. In the confusion, a Japanese man in Manhattan attempted to call his daughter living in Tokyo. She never picked up.

~

Sousuke cursed silently as another three M-9's dove towards him to take the place of the ones he had just destroyed. He boosted up and back, the cannons dropping down over the Arbalest's shoulders and taking aim at the Arm Slaves. A quick barrage of fire tore the machines apart.

The Full Armor upgrade was, Sousuke had found out, a specially designed add-on to the Arbalest that contained, among other things, extra boosters and wings for flight, four 75mm high velocity cannons, a large knife for melee combat, an extra foot of titanium armor and a high powered assault rifle, not to mention eight nuclear missiles. It made a full-scale battle ship look like an SUV next to a Porsche.

Spinning in mid-air, Sousuke took aim and knocked out another Arm Slave. The Arbalest took off, boosting into the air and again, the cannons came down over the shoulders. Like an angel of death, the Arbalest rained fire down on a fire team, wiping them out and making large holes in the street.

After landing, the Tuatha de Danaan forces had almost immediately been attacked by the full force of Mithril's M-9's. Dozens upon dozens of them launched against the fifteen or so Tuatha de Danaan robots.

As it turned out, however, Mithril had made one great mistake. The headquarters was protected by rookie pilots while the Tuatha de Danaan soldiers were all experienced. It wasn't difficult for the veterans to hold their own against the numerically superior enemy.

Still, for every M-9 Mithril lost, another took its place. The Tuatha de Danaan forces were slowly but surely being whittled away.

In contrast to the main force, Sousuke was doing excellently. In the first twenty minutes of combat, he had destroyed sixteen enemy units and badly damaged three more. As he overlooked the battlefield, a beautiful cathedral now overrun with machines of war, a voice crackled over his radio.

"Sousuke… help us out over here…" Kurtz's voice.

Swooping down, Sousuke spotted the other Urz team members. He opened fire from behind, one of the M-9's bursting apart into flames. The other tried to return fire and the Arbalest leapt to the side, squeezing off a lethal burst of fire in the process.

"Shit…" Kurtz muttered as he retreated to a safe position. "We're outnumbered but with that thing here… It doesn't even matter."

"Kurtz, watch your ass!" screamed Melissa. A volley of missiles swiped past Kurtz's unit. He gave a cry of surprise and the Arm Slave was caught by another missile salvo.

"Goddammit, Kurtz, eject!" shrieked Melissa, doing what she could to hold off the attackers. A lucky shot to the cockpit knocked one of the enemy M-9's out of commission and two more, seeing their comrade defeated, pulled back.

As his Armored Slave burst into flames, Kurtz jammed the ejected button. The cockpit popped open and, not waiting around for the mechanism to kick in, Kurtz hurled himself out.

~

Kaname stared at Augustine in cold shock. It wasn't hard to figure out what he wanted her to do.

"I'll be frank. I want to test the efficiency of the Gnostic and your loyalty. If you launch and fight for all your worth, I'll let your family live. If not, boom. Are you positive you want to go out there?"

Kaname stood. She ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah. Let's get this over with."

Augustine's face broke into a smile.

"Excellent. But, I have lined up a bit of insurance for you. If you get into any trouble or if you betray me… Well, you know the drill."

The moving sidewalk had started…. moving… again. Slowly, a tall, Asian man slid into the hangar, smiling proudly.

"Yo, Chidori," Gauron said, grinning. Augustine chuckled at Kaname's shocked face.

"I've got some things to attend to. Gauron, would you help Miss Chidori get used to the controls of the Gnostic?"

"Roger that, Padre," Gauron said, as though he had some big joke planned.

As Augustine left, Gauron started marching towards the Gnostic. As Kaname followed sullenly, he kept chuckling.

"Manhattan, was it?"

At that moment, Kaname began to realize that something very, very strange was going on.

~

"Mr. President, what do you think we should do?"

Dubya stared at the image of the Arbalest slicing apart attacking M-9's with ease.

"Mr. President?"

"Let's see how this places out…" Bush muttered, sitting back in his chair. "See if we can get a couple of those too…"

~

One sub-sonic jet ride to Rome later, Geraldo Rivera was in a new chopper, hovering in among the combatants.

"This is Geraldo Rivera for FOX News, bring you the latest on The Battle in the City of God!" Rivera said with special flourish, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Suddenly, the Arbalest turned and, Sousuke, mistaking the small chopper for a gun ship, opened fire, knocking it out of the sky and, in doing so, performed a great service for all of humanity.

~

"All you need to do is think about the action and the Gnostic will perform it. It may take a bit of getting used to, because, for example, you don't think about walking."

Gauron was actually a pretty good teacher as he pointed out all the screens and control panels in the cockpit.

"Remember that you only need to think about something for it to happen. The Gnostic is equipped with a sword for melee combat but you really shouldn't need it. One more thing…"

Gauron smiled and leaned close to Kaname to whisper something.

"Studies suggest that, if the Lambda Driver is put under too much stress… Something will happen."

"Something? What kind of thing?"

Gauron grinned and stepped out of the cockpit.

"Something amazing."

~

As the Gnostic and Gauron's Arbalest Mass Production Type launched, Kaname felt a pit of dread rising in her stomach. Not only was Gauron escorting her but the other eleven Arbalest Mass Production Types had been launched as well. Thirteen Arm Slaves in all, each possessing incredible power.

She saw it as soon as she landed outside the cathedral. The Arbalest. The original. She knew it was Sousuke instantly.

The others being launched as well, however, made her plan more difficult. Originally, since it was obvious Augustine was bluffing about her family, Kaname had decided to make a run for it or even fight against Mithril. But with twelve Arm Slaves right behind her…

Carefully, she concentrated on walking. The Gnostic took a few hesitant steps and Kaname jumped when it did so, as though she hadn't expected it to move. She tried again and soon, she had the robot walking with confidence. She tried moving the arms and found that was even easier than walking.

"Okay…" she whispered slowly. "I'm getting somewhere…"

"You know…" a voice came over her radio. "Padre will be very disappointed if you don't fight."

"Huh?"

"The Arbalests all have orders to gang up on Kashim… Just so you know…"

And with that, the Arbalests, Gauron included, took off, leaving Kaname alone.

~

Sousuke was panting now. By his count, he must have shot down nearly twenty-five enemy Arm Slaves. He was surprised at himself. He felt more awake than he had ever felt in a fight and his reflexes were faster than they had ever been before.

The Tuatha de Danaan forces had taken losses too, however. At least seven of the M-9's that were launched had been destroyed and the rest were all reporting their situation as critical. Sousuke was about go play hero again when twelve Arm Slaves landed around him.

It was like a scene from _The Birds_. Sousuke stayed still, in between the circle of his hunters. In the midst of the great chaos around them, nothing moved.

"Kashim…" Gauron said in a sing-song voice. Sousuke's blood ran cold and the hunters pounced.

Sousuke tried firing but the Lambda Drivers of the Arbalests immediately deflected the rounds. His Arbalest went down, under the weight of several others.

"Are you really going to let them win, Kashim?" Gauron cackled, mocking him as the Arm Slaves beat the Arbalest. Sousuke growled, struggling to stand up.

"Dammit…" Sousuke whispered. He considered firing the nukes at point blank range. If he did that, he could, at least, wipe out the Arbalests. But if he did that… He would almost surely die in the blast. And he'd never see Kaname again.

The thought of Kaname filled him with equal parts hope and anger. If he failed here, there was no telling what they would do to her.

As if picking up on his rage, Gauron chuckled. "What's wrong, Sousuke? Thinking of your little girlfriend?"

"I can't lose…" Sousuke hissed to himself. The Arbalest's joints were beginning to break. "Because… If I do… Chidori…"

An image of Kaname's face flashed through Sousuke's mind.

With sudden strength, the young soldier roared. Engaging the Lambda Driver, the Abarlest forced itself up, hurling off the other Arm Slaves.

"I won't let you hurt Chidori!" screamed Sousuke. With frightening speed, the Arbalest leapt forward… And drove its fist through the cockpit of the nearest AS. Sousuke spun around and sprayed two more with rifle fire. The shields put up by their Lambda Drivers literally shattered and both machines exploded.

Gauron smiled as he watched Sousuke tear apart the mass produced Arbalests. "As expected…" he whispered.

~

A few hundred meters away, Kaname watched the Arbalest fight. She could hear Sousuke's yells and screams as he ripped the other units to shreds. It was like watching a wild animal destroy its prey. There was no humanity there. Only pure, animalistic rage and instinct.

"Sousuke…" whispered Kaname, feeling the tears well up again. "It's always like this. You're always trying to protect me. And even when I fight back… Everyone ends up getting hurt. I wish I had never been born… Then you wouldn't feel this pain…"

Suddenly, she remembered the girl's words. "You can make your own future. For yourself and Sousuke."

~

As the final one of the Arbalests collapsed, Sousuke turned. Gauron's unit was still there. His muscles tightened and he readied himself for the fight of his life. It never came.

"Well done, Kashim. Well done."

"Why did you betray us?" demanded Sousuke suddenly. "What-"

"I never betrayed you. I never served you. All I did was save my little Kashim from the big bad Pope."

"Then who do you serve?"

Gauron laughed. "No one but myself. But, don't worry, Kashim. I'm not here to fight you. In fact, I'm going to make your life a little bit easier…"

The Arbalest MPT boosted into the air and hung there for a few seconds, looking down at the original.

"I'm not about to let someone other than myself kill you. That's my privilege and my privilege alone. Just remember that, Kashim. But, for now, you had better go comfort your girl. She's about to cry again."

It was then that Sousuke noticed the Gnostic. It stood, stoically still, in the middle of the square in front of the cathedral.

Forgetting about Gauron, Sousuke started bounding towards Kaname. He ignored the sounds of battle dying around him. The Arbalest leapt over a few buildings and came to a complete stop in front of the Gnostic. It's cockpit opened and Sousuke held up one hand so Kaname could see her.

"Chidori," he said.

There was no response for a moment… And then…

"Yo. Sousuke."

~ 

Under St. Peter's Cathedral, Augustine watched in horror as Sousuke annihilated the final Arbalest.

"At least Gauron will finish him off…" he muttered. He continued to watch in horror as Gauron flew away. And then, the screens surrounding the command center went blank. Then, they were replaced with a huge blown up image of Fatima's face. The Beatles song "Hey Jude" began to play. The technicians manning the station stared in amazement as the computers shut down. The only things that worked were the monitors and the speaker systems.

"Sir?" one of the attendants asked timidly. Augustine closed his eyes in silent rage.

"Ready the Arbalest Mk. II and launch the Titan missiles. 

End of Chapter Eight

Special Next Chapter Preview!

The nightmares of a people consume the world as the battle grows desperate. Each warrior, bathed in blood, fights to survive. Amidst the fire, two children seek one another out, the light held in their hands overflowing…

Next time in Le Jeu Sinistre! "The Light that Fills this World!" Soar towards the new era! Fly, Sousuke!

Author Notes: No, I haven't lost it. The Special Next Chapter Preview is a spoof of the episode preview they have at the end of every episode of Gundam SEED. It involves a vague, muddy teaser of the next episode and then some inspiring piece of encouragement for "Gundam."

Speaking of which, I saw Gundam SEED 49 today, which can be directly blamed for any and all carnage in this chapter and the next one. *sniffle* Mwu…

But, yeah, SEED is awesome. Only one episode left too…

So, uh, thanks for all the great reviews. That stuff's really encouraging and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.


	9. Chapter Nine: The Light that Fills this ...

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Panic, nor do I believe that the Pope is actually the head of a secret para-military group. I do, however, believe that George Bush spends most of his time playing Starcraft on Battle.net.

Chapter Nine: The Light that Fills this World

"Captain, we're picking up a rapidly approaching missile…"

Tessa's ears perked up.

"Can we evade it?"

"No… It's… It's like it's changing direction every time we get a lock on it… It's…"

Suddenly, the Tuatha de Danaan was rocked by a massively explosion. The nuke hit and detonated, shredding the outmost layers of armor and throwing the submarine into a spin. 

On the bridge, Tessa was thrown from her seat along with the crew and smashed into the ceiling. Groaning and rubbing a contusion on her shoulder, she stumbled over to Kalinin and Mardukas who were lying in a heap not far from her.

"Are you two alright?"

The men groaned as they tried to stand up.

"We can't take another hit like that…" Tessa whispered, looking around at the screens, digesting the information. "We've got no choice. We'll need to abandon ship."

~

The Arbalest Mk. II launched, spreading the wings folded behind its back and took off into the sky. Augustine watched with satisfaction as a great explosion in the sea sent up a tidal wave. There was no way, he figured that the Tuatha de Danaan could survive that. It was the kind of self-satisfying thought that almost made him forget the endless chorus of "Na na na na na! Na na na! Hey Jude!" that echoed through the cockpit.

"Goddammit…" Augustine muttered. "Four whole minutes of na na na na na…"

It was at about that moment that a motorcycle came flying at the Mk. II. Augustine saw it in time and concentrated on it changing path. The motorbike veered sharply to the right and crashed harmlessly into a building.

"Yo, Padre."

Another motorcycle flew through the air. Augustine aimed and fired, testing out the Arm Slave's rifle systems. The bike burst into pieces after a single shot.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Gauron?" Augustine demanded. The Mk. II came to land on top of a building, several stories above Gauron's Arbalest.

"Pretending I'm Harry Potter." The Arbalest picked up a Toyota Cresta, which looked very out of place in Rome, and hurled it at Augustine, guiding it to its destination with its Lambda Driver.

"You were supposed to kill him," growled Augustine. The Mk. II took off, avoiding the Cresta, which smashed into another building. Somewhere in Japan, a principal broke down and cried.

"Kashim? I'm afraid it doesn't work like that…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" The Arm Slave came to land on top of another building. Gauron's Arbalest reached out its hand, fingers spread.

"It means…" The hand clenched into a fist and Gauron pulled it back suddenly. "That I want to kill him on my own terms." The structure of the building collapsed beneath Augustine and he took off again.

"You're insane…" the Pope hissed. "You betrayed me!"

"What's that proverb about the snake? A man finds an injured snake, takes it into his home, nurses it back to health and one day, the snake bites him. When the man is dying from the poison, he asks the snake 'Why did you bite me? I took you in and saved your life' to which the snake replied 'You knew I was a snake when you took me in.'"

"Whatever. I don't care. Just get out of my way. I need to finish this stupid thing…"

Gauron laughed.

"I'm sorry, Padre," he said in a mocking tone, imitating HAL. "I can't do that."

Augustine failed to pick up on the humor.

"Fine. Then I'll just kill you." The Mk. II aimed its rifle and opened fire. The Arbalest leapt back and Gauron grabbed a lamppost, up rooting it.

"En guard!" he yelled and flew at the other Arm Slave. Using the lamppost like a sword, the Arbalest swung and the Mk. II drew its combat knife just in time to block the blow.

"You idiot… Do you think you can win against me?!" With a surge of strength, the Mk. II checked its opponent, throwing it back. Augustine dropped the knife and drew his rifle again, firing and blowing holes in the Arbalest.

"Of course not. Your Arm Slave has one major disadvantage. With all that new equipment on there, it can only be in heavy combat for forty-five minutes. Moreover, you've just used up your rifle magazine. Is there a chess name for this kind of move, Padre? Where you sacrifice something to put your opponent at a disadvantage?"

Augustine cursed his luck and dropped the rifle next to the knife. Raising its arm and then lashing out forward, a wave of energy surged into the Arbalest, knocking it back. Gauron crossed the machine's arms and it absorbed the blow, but just barely. 

"Heheh… How long can you keep this up, Padre?" Gauron asked as the invisible energy continued pouring forth from the Mk. II's hand. The Arbalest continued to absorb it but it was obviously fighting a losing battle.

"Long enough to erase you from this life, you bastard…" growled Augustine.

"Them's fightin' words! Hmm…" Gauron chuckled to himself in mock thought. "Want to know the truth, Padre?"

"Truth? What the hell are you-"

"About why I want to kill Kashim. I know, for instance, that he's Yamato Sagara's son… And therefore my son… But do you know why I want to kill him?"

"Enlighten me."

"Because I love him. It's hardwired into my psyche to love him. And I don't want him to have the same kind of life I had." Gauron grinned. "Heartwarming, isn't it?"

"Quite. Too bad, though…" The Mk. II pulled back and hurled itself forward, smashing into the Arbalest. The other Arm Slave flew back as its armor literally disintegrated under the focus of the Lambda Driver.

"Heheheheh…" chuckled Gauron as the Arbalest burst into pieces. "Don't you remember what I told you back then? I hope you have fun playing with the Whispered!"

And then the Arbalest Mass Production Type blew up.

~

"Chidori…" Sousuke's voice was a bit shaky. He was feeling faint and was pretty sure that some of his bandages had broke and that his seat was slowly being covered with blood. "What are you doing here?"

"This thing… Uhh… Gnostic," Kaname began. "Augustine… I mean… The Pope… You know… Mithril's Commander or whatever… He… uhh…" It was at about that moment that the sheer absurdity of the situation smacked Kaname in the face, much like a fan. "He… Wanted me to pilot this… So…"

"He wanted you to pilot it? This doesn't look like any Arm Slave I've encountered. Is it a new model? Can you send me the specifications? My channel is…"

"Sousuke! I've been sitting in this thing for five minutes! I can barely walk let alone send you files! This isn't a computer or something…"

"Actually, it is. Just pull up the desktop and-"

"We're in the middle of a battle, you idiot…" Kaname muttered. "This isn't the time to send you military blue prints for you to drool over! And what the hell happened to you in Germany?! I thought you were…" She trailed off, not daring to say the last word.

"Sergeant Major Mao says I have an unusually thick skull."

Damn, I could've told him that, Kaname thought to herself.

"Chidori, are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"No… Actually… I'm fine. But, are you sure you're alright? I mean, you were shot up pretty badly back there."

"I'm fine."

In fact, Sousuke was far from fine but far be it from him to acknowledge that.

"Right…" Kaname sighed. "Listen, Sousuke, I need to tell you something-"

"Chidori, it will have to wait. Get out of that Arm Slave now. Mithril is sending parties onto land to rescue you. You can rendezvous with one and-"

"No! Sousuke, listen-"

"This is a very dangerous situation. It would be best if you would leave the combat area before you get hurt."

"Who're you to lecture me about getting hurt?" Kaname growled. "You almost get killed but then you have to come and save me. You just have to be the hero, don't you?"

"I don't understand…"

"Why are you always sacrificing things for people?" Kaname demanded, suddenly very angry. "You should be selfish once in awhile. Maybe you'd live longer."

"I've been the way I am for as long as I can remember and I haven't died."

"That's now what I mean. I mean… You're hurt, aren't you? Hurt bad. Hurt worse than you've ever been. But you still came… Why?"

"To rescue you."

"That's not an answer!" Kaname yelled. "Did you hear me that night before you blacked out? Did you hear what I said? I told you how I really feel about you so now it's your turn. Tell me, Sousuke. Don't say you don't understand. Don't give me a military answer! Give me your answer! Tell me, dammit! Why do you want to rescue me?!" She was almost screaming now. Her heart was pounding in her chest and, the cockpit had begun to emit a slight humming noise. She wasn't paying attention to it, though.

"Because you're my friend," Sousuke said calmly.

"That's it? That's your answer? Sousuke-"

"I don't have many friends."

Kaname stopped. I'm one of his only friends in the world, she thought. Kaname had dozens of friends… Not just in Japan but in America too. How many did Sousuke have? A dozen in the entire world? And how many of them had he seen die?

"I also promised to protect you. I won't break my promise." Sousuke's voice had the same kind of conviction as a battle field priest giving last rights.

"Then I absolve you of your promise," Kaname whispered. "You don't have any reason to be here… You're not held to the promise anymore."

Sousuke was silent for a few seconds. He really hadn't be expecting that.

"Then…" he said slowly. "No."

"No?" asked Kaname.

"No. I'm going to be selfish, like I said. I will keep protecting you, regardless of your feelings on the matter. Many of the important people in my life have died and I won't allow the most important person to die as well. I'm sorry, Chidori, but I can't leave."

"Sousuke…" Kaname's face slowly broke into a smile. Not a sad smile. A happy one. "Understood."

And, at that moment, the Arbalest Mk. II landed next to them.

~

The smell of blood was overwhelming Tessa. The sick, coppery smell burned the insides of her nose and she wanted to throw up. But, she couldn't because she was busy trying to remember how to say "What is your blood type?" in Italian.

After the evacuation from the Tuatha de Danaan, the small fleet of helicopters landed far enough away from the fighting to be safe. They set up a small field hospital and soon found themselves tending not only to their own injured soldiers but Mithril forces too.

Even though she was near breakdown, Tessa still had some fight left in her. She commanded the hospital as best she could, barking orders in a way that surprised even her own soldiers.

"We need more transfusions! I don't care what your blood type is, just do it! O is the universal donor and AB is the universal recipient, remember! Bandages go over there! Give him whiskey or wine or beer, I don't care! Stop him from screaming!"

The man at Tessa's feet, whom she had thought to be dead, suddenly opened his eyes and started screaming as well. Something in Italian. It sounded like a prayer.

Then, another man knelt next to him. He pulled a small flask out of his jacket and poured the contents into the screamer's mouth, forcing him to drink. The cries soon became quieter and before long, had stopped altogether.

When the man stood up and Tessa saw his face, she stopped giving orders and gave a frightened meep.

"Sake," Gauron said, smiling. He took a sip for himself and went on. "I wanted to give it to Kashim because a man of samurai blood should not enter the next world without the taste of sweet sake on his lips."

"But… Sagara, he's not dead," Tessa said quickly. She glanced at the Arbalest. It was barely visible off in the distance but it was still in one piece.

"I know," Gauron chuckled. "That's why I didn't give it to him."

Tessa suddenly shivered and looked over the collection of bloody and broken bodies before her.

"This is insane…" she whispered. Gauron laughed bitterly. 

"Humans are the only creatures who love the smell and color of the blood of their kindred… Praising peace but preparing for war. 'Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.' 'Therefore, whoever wishes for peace, let him prepare for war.' That's the story of humanity. And we have no choice but to go along with it. 'The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.'"

"But… We do have a choice!"

Gauron turned to look at Tessa, genuinely surprised.

"I mean, we can refuse to fight."

"But did you?" Gauron asked. Tessa didn't answer.

"Kashim…" Gauron smiled, watching the Arbalest Mk. II land next to Sousuke and Kaname. "He's an amazing person. He's fighting for all he's worth… Not just to save the love of his life but to protect the promise known as tomorrow." Gauron looked up to the sky. "This world needs people like him. The people who sacrifice of themselves and fight for others without expecting anything in return. If there were more unselfish people like him in this world, we wouldn't have wars."

Tessa stared at Gauron for a second, totally caught off guard by him. Then, she turned her attention to the three Arm Slaves.

"You're right," she whispered softly.

~

"So, I finally meet the famous Sagara Sousuke…" Augustine said, chuckling. "I've heard a lot about you."

The Arbalest lowered its cannons, aiming them directly at its upgrade.

"Who are you?" Sousuke asked, finger on the trigger. Augustine laughed.

"Pope John Paul III and the High Commander of Mithril. I'm glad to finally meet you, Sagara. You've been making things very hard for me lately. Do you know that?"

Sousuke didn't answer. He kept his hand ready to fire.

"I hadn't originally planned on you being involved in my game. Yet, no matter how many times I try to knock you off the board, you keep coming back and taking out my pieces. Do you know how frustrating that is?"

Sousuke still didn't answer.

"But, now, you'll be eliminated once and for all. Miss Chidori, if you wouldn't mind."

"Chidori?" Sousuke asked in surprise.

Kaname looked from the Arbalest Mk. II to the original and then around her cockpit. "Err… What?"

"Brooklyn, remember?" Augustine said pleasantly.

"No. Manhattan."

"What…?"

"My family lives in Manhattan. Not Brooklyn."

Nobody really said anything for a few moments. It was a very awkward situation.

"Oh… Is that so…" Augustine murmured.

"Go for it, Sousuke," Kaname said, smiling. Sousuke pulled the trigger and the cannons boomed, sending out four parallel rounds at once, straight at the Mk. II.

Only, suddenly, the Arm Slave wasn't there.

And then, it was above the Arbalest, knife out and coming down rapidly. Sousuke leapt out of the way and the Mk. II crashed into the ground. Augustine chuckled over the radio.

"Even with the full armor, you're outclassed, Sagara," Augustine hissed. "Even if Chidori is against me, you can't win. But, tell me… Do you know who your father is? I want to have a bit of fun first."

"Sousuke, don't listen to him," Kaname yelled immediately. Augustine laughed.

"What? You don't want him to hear? Sagara, your father-"

There was a loud hissing noise as the Gnostic drew its sword. A long, European style blade, it glowed in the evening light.

"What're you going to do with that?" Augustine taunted. "Have you ever heard of Yamato Sagara? The famous war criminal?"

"Whatever you say, Sousuke isn't like that! He-"

"I'm familiar with him. I know, he's my biological father."

Kaname and Augustine were again, very quiet.

"You… knew?"

"Yes. I receive a check from his estate every month."

"He's a Grade A war criminal," Augustine persisted. "He slaughtered hundreds of men in cold blood."

"That may be so but I never knew him. Since I wasn't raised by him, I feel that I have no more capacity to become a war criminal than anyone else. Therefore, it never bothered me. However, considering that I am his son, I haven't mentioned it to my commanders."

"Very logical…" Augustine muttered. The Mk. II straightened up. "But, nonetheless, I have to wipe you from this world. Goodbye."

The air around the Mk. II seemed to become like water for a second as it charged the Arbalest. However, it was met halfway by the Gnostic. Wielding the sword much in the same way as she used her fan, Kaname slashed and thrust and pushed back the other Arm Slave.

"Chidori…" Sousuke said in honest surprise. Kaname was just as amazed.

"Wow…" she whispered. "That was… easy…"

"Like I said," Augustine chortled. "The Lambda Driver in your Arm Slave allows for better man-machine contact." With that, he threw himself back into combat, swiping at the Gnostic. The other Arm Slave parried the blow and counterattacked. The new Arbalest, however, lashed out its hand. There was a brilliant flash of light and the Gnostic was knocked back a dozen meters.

"…the hell?" muttered Kaname.

"It's his Lambda Driver," Sousuke muttered.

"What?"

"He's had more experience with it than either of us, I imagine. We'll have to be careful…"

"Sousuke…" Kaname said softly. She smiled. He used "we."

"Chidori, use your Lambda Driver whenever you can. We can't make any mistakes."

"Understood!" Kaname replied firmly.

Taking aim with his rifle, Sousuke opened fire on the Arbalest Mk. II. It took off into the air, easily avoiding the shells. Kaname concentrated on the image of the Arm Slave blowing up mid-air but she almost immediately met resistance. Her head suddenly hurt and the Gnostic was pushed back.

"Not bad…" whispered Augustine as he charged the Arbalest again. This time, the Gnostic couldn't get in the middle to beat him back. Instead, Sousuke fired the cannons at point blank range. The rounds went flying off in another direction the second they left the barrel. The Arbalest crossed its arms and Sousuke concentrated, absorbing the blows from the Mk. II.

As the two Arbalests fought a battle of wills, the Gnostic come up from behind, ready to slice up the Mk. II. With a surge of strength. Augustine threw Sousuke back and slammed the Arbalest's fist into the Gnostic, knocking it back. He followed up with another strike, crushing more of the Arm Slave.

However, the Mk. II was caught off guard when Sousuke fired twice into its back side. Augustine twisted the Arm Slave around and, with a wave of its hand, the Lambda Driver sent the Arbalest flying back.

"Chidori…" Sousuke groaned.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"I've got an idea…" he whispered. "This AS is armed with nuclear weapons…"

~

Back in the field hospital, the wounded and the helpers alike watched in awe at the battle between the titans going on. Gauron stood with Kalinin, Mardukas and Tessa. All of the men smoked cigarettes, in a sort of mutual ritual. Tessa was on the verge of tears and whimpered every time the Gnostic or the Arbalest was hit.

"Do you think they can win?" asked Mardukas.

"It's possible but…"

"They'll win," Garuon said, smiling.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Kashim is the kind of person who makes the impossible possible."

~

"Nuclear weapons?" gasped Kaname. "Then…"

"If I can into a suitable range for a shot…"

"But, won't those destroy the whole city?"

"They're not large. They'll burn everything within roughly twenty meters of explosion but they won't wipe out the city. It's our only chance."

"Twenty meters? Doesn't that mean… You'll…"

Sousuke sighed. "There is a chance that I'll be caught in the blast too. It's a risk I'm willing to take. You need to get as far away, though."

"No! I'm staying here to fight!"  
"If this works, we won't have to fight! Chidori, I won't risk losing this battle," Sousuke's voice was full of determination. Kaname could see him in his cockpit on one of her screens. His eyes were burning.

Before she could answer him, the Mk. II came charging again. The cannons on the shoulders of the Arbalest dropped off and eight small missiles popped out of the armor to take their place.

"Chidori, go!" Sousuke yelled as he squeezed the trigger. The eight missiles launched simultaneously, streaking towards the Arbalest Mk. II. Kaname obeyed without thinking and the Gnostic leapt into the air, away from the fight.

~

The explosion was incredible. It wasn't like anything anyone there had seen before. A great white fire expanded out rapidly from the Arbalests, consuming them and the surrounding city. The fireball swirled for a few seconds, sending up dust and creating the classic mushroom cloud.

"My god…" whispered Tessa. She buried her face in her hands, crying and whispering a prayer.

~

The world over, all of humanity watched as Sagara Sousuke used nuclear weapons for the third time in history.

~

As the smoke and the fire cleared, two figures remained. The Arbalest Mk. II stood still, glowing slightly but totally untouched. The original Arbalest was covered in dust and debris, with burns and scars from the fire slashed across the armor. Suddenly, the Full Armor add-on slouched off and hid the ground with a great clunk.

"S-sousuke! Are you okay? Sousuke!"

"It didn't work," Sousuke said quietly.

"What?"

Augustine chuckled. "Incredible. The Lambda Driver can even stave off a nuclear attack. I imagine you figured that too, eh, Sagara?"

Sousuke growled. Augustine laughed.

"Right then. I'm tired of playing with you two. Time to get down to business…"

"Chidori…" Sousuke whispered. "Your Lambda Driver…"

"I know! I know! I'm trying to use it but-"

"No. If we both attack at once, using our Lambda Drivers, it should overwhelm him."

"It's worth a shot…" Kaname agreed. The Gnostic arrived next to the Arbalest and together, both charged the Mk. II.

"How touching…" Augustine murmured. As the three Arm Slaves met and the Lambda Drivers flared, however, he groaned as his was knocked back.

Incredible flashes of energy went off as the three pressed together, trying to force one another into submission.

Kaname's mind was focused on the image of the Arbalest Mk. II bursting apart with flames coming out and everything. She gritted her teeth and concentrated harder. Unbeknownst to her, the Gnostic had started to glow…

"Sousuke…" she whispered.

And, suddenly, they weren't there anymore.

~

Sousuke was standing in a lake. It was a very, very large, greenish blue lake. He looked around.

"Chidori?"

"Right here, Sousuke."

He spun around. There stood Kaname. Naked.

"What's this?" Sousuke demanded. He sounded angry but he was mostly surprised.

"I don't know. I've been here before, though," Kaname said, smiling slowly. She didn't seem bashful at all. It was about then that Sousuke realized he was naked too and that it seemed to be the least of his worries at the moment.

"Before?"

"When Gauron took over the Tuatha de Danaan… I was here when I was using the ship's Lambda Driver." Kaname looked around and shrugged. "I don't know. It's really peaceful here."

Sousuke bowed his head, thinking. "There's got to be some way to win…"

"No, there isn't… Face it, Sousuke. We can't win. He won this game."

"No!"

Kaname was surprised by how furious Sousuke was when he replied.

"No! We can't lose!"

"But there's no way to win!" Kaname argued.

"So? I don't care. I'll still fight till I find a way to win. I won't lose this battle. We won't lose. Don't you remember what I said? As long as you're with me, we can do anything. I still believe that. And I need you to believe it too, Chidori."

Kaname stared at Sousuke, speechless.

"And you promised to watch The Godfather with me," he added.

Kaname's face broke into a smile.

"You're right… Let's go back, okay? And win."

~

"I won't lose, goddammit!" Augustine screamed as he pushed back harder against the two Arm Slaves. With trembling hands, he pulled a bottle of pills from his pocket and tried to down a few. He dropped the bottle and cursed loudly.

"I understand now…" Kaname said softly, specifically to him. "Why don't you give up? I can see it now…" She smiled. "I can read your mind through your Lambda Driver… Throughout your life, you were used by people… So, that's the only way you learned how to interact with other people. It's not too late, though. You can still-"

"No!" roared Augustine, losing it. "Stop it! Stop… stop raping my mind! I can still win…" He dove into his pocket again and pulled out a small device that looked like a cell phone.

"I can remotely launch the nuclear missiles from here! If I can't win, I'll make sure everyone else loses!" He started laughing maniacally.

"No! You can't!"

"Watch! You'll regret ever playing against me!"

"Shut up already!" Sousuke yelled back. But it was too late. Augustine pressed the button. All over Rome, missiles silos slowly began to open.

Suddenly, Kaname remembered what Gauron had said about the Lambda Driver. If too much stress is placed on it, "something amazing" will happen. She closed her eyes and concentrated, forcing "something amazing" to happen.

It was Sousuke who noticed it first.

"Chidori! Your Arm Slave…"

The Gnostic wasn't just glowing now. It was giving off incredible amounts of light. It was as thought it were shining from the inside, lighting escaping from in between the armor.

"Sousuke…" Kaname whispered hurriedly. "I don't understand it… I can't explain it… But, I think I'm self-destructing the Lambda Driver."

"What?!"

"Sousuke," Kaname whispered again, still concentrating as the Gnostic became brighter and brighter. "I love you. I love you more than anything. Isn't that sappy? But you're always making sacrifices for me. You're always protecting me. For once, I want to do the same for you. So please… Let me do this. I can win this for both of us."

"Chidori! Don't!"

And then, it was as though the light was overflowing. It oozed out of the Gnostic, surrounding everything, burning it away. The armor on the three Arm Slaves began to melt.

"Chidori! Eject!" ordered Sousuke.

"I can't," Kaname said, sadly. The light was growing now, even brighter. It spread out over the city. It flowed into the missile silos, surrounding the rockets and crushing them.

"Your Arm Slave will combust if you don't eject!" Sousuke yelled. He charged towards the Gnostic, even as the Arbalest's armor was burning off. Augustine was waiting for him.

"Die!" he roared. One of the original Arbalest's hands shot forward, grabbing onto the front of the Mk. II, where the cockpit was.

"Go away!" screamed Sousuke. The hand plunged into the chest of the Arm Slave, grabbing the cockpit and crushing it.

With that finished, Sousuke began tearing away the metal of the Gnostic's cockpit. The light was beginning to swirl now, tearing apart everything in its path.

"Chidori!" Sousuke cried. He was feeling the beginnings of tears in his eyes. Finally, he tore the last piece of armor away from the cockpit. There was Kaname, looking up at him, smiling.

With the Arbalest's hands reduced to stumps, Sousuke opened his own cockpit. He reached out his hand.

"Chidori! Jump!"

Kaname kept smiling and jumped through the light…

~

At the field hospital, everyone ooed and ahhed over the light. When it came towards them, they started to get afraid.

But, instead of destroying, it had an almost healing effect. Those who had been dying in agony passed gently while those who were bleeding had their wounds clot. As the warm light embraced them, Tessa found herself crying. To her, it felt like Kaname. It felt like Kaname's love for Sousuke. She grabbed onto Kalinin and sobbed into his jacket, assuming the worst.

The light continued flow for several minutes. Soon, it stopped spreading. Now, there was only a single ball of swirling light in the center of the city. The patients at the hospital and the attendants watched it, in amazement.

Then, Kalinin removed his cap and saluted. Mardukas followed suit and soon, everyone was saluting the ball of light. Except for Gauron. He just grinned.

"Five… four… three…" he started counting.

"What are you-" started Mardukas. 

"One."

The Arbalest came bursting out of the light. It ran at breakneck speed, almost flying. Some of the light held on to the back of it, like fire. Finally, it landed near the camp. The cockpit was open and Kaname lay over Sousuke's lap.

He quickly got down and started limping towards the hospital, carrying Kaname. When he arrived, he laid her on the ground and looked from face to face.

"She passed out," he explained, though it didn't really need explaining. "I can't wake her up. Do we have any smelling salts or…"

Nobody was saying anything. It was Gauron who finally spoke.

"Kiss her… Doesn't sleeping beauty always wake up with a kiss?"

Sousuke looked at him oddly for a second. Then, he looked to Tessa. Their eyes met and she nodded before looking away.

He knelt and tilted her head up. Slowly, Sousuke lowered his head and kissed her gently.

There was no reaction for a moment. It was like Kaname was dead.

Then, her eyes fluttered open.

"Pervert…" said Kaname slowly, having trouble breathing but smiling.

~

Epilogue: As Time Goes On

Kaname sighed and leaned back in her chair. It was the first day of school after summer vacation. Her entire adventure was like a far off dream to her now.

Only, it couldn't have been a dream. The world was in chaos. Almost. The UN did a good job of covering up the entire Mithril fiasco. Still. Everyone was talking about the battle in the Vatican.

Afterwards, they had gone to Switzerland. Kaname had wanted to see Sousuke again but per doctor's orders, he had to stay in bed. According to the hospital, he had only hours left to live when he came in.

Before she could see him, they took her back to Japan. Kaname had assumed that, after everything that had happened, she wouldn't be able to go back to school. She was wrong. Here she sat, remembering everything.

"Alright, everyone, settle down…" the homeroom teacher said as she came in. "We have two new students joining us this semester. Miss Chidori, since you're Class President, would you introduce them?"

Kaname yawned. "Sure."

She went to the door, opened it and froze. The two new students walked past her to the front of the class. The home room teacher smiled brightly, not noticing Kaname.

"I'd like you all to greet Sagara Sousuke and his half sister, Teresa Testarossa. They were studying in Italy but, after… recent events… decided to come here."

The class gave a mass "Welcome" and they both bowed, saying their customary hellos. Sousuke took a seat next to Kaname. She glanced at him but he was looking straight at the board, like nothing had happened.

~

After school, Kaname ran past her friends whom she had promised to go get some ice cream with, straight to Sousuke who was walking with Tessa.

"You two-" she managed, panting.

"Chidori. Are you alright?"

"What the hell? Why're you here?"

"Since Mithril doesn't exist anymore, we can live normal lives," Tessa said happily. "When they asked us where we wanted to go to school, we decided to come here with Melissa and Kurtz."

"Huh? Kurtz and Melissa are here too?"

"Yeah. She's the new school nurse and he's a P.E. teacher." Tessa giggled. "He keeps calling himself 'Great Teacher Kurtz.'"

Kaname suddenly felt very dizzy. She almost fell but Sousuke caught her.

"Be careful," he said simply.

"Oh, I forgot…" Tessa said suddenly. "I have an interview for a part time job. I'll see you two later! I have to hurry… Oh, it's already late…"

She ran off, a bit clumsily, leaving Sousuke and Kaname alone.

"Sousuke," Kaname began. She intended to tell him everything she felt about him right then and there but he cut her off.

"Here."

Reaching into his bag, Sousuke pulled out… The Godfather on DVD.

"Can we watch it at your home?"

When Kaname got back to her apartment, she had found it almost exactly like it had been before it was destroyed. She was pretty sure it was a case of "Don't ask, don't tell."

"Sure, Sousuke. Let's go."

Kaname reached down and took hold of Sousuke's hand. She squeezed it and, much to her surprise, he squeezed back.

~

On top of Jindai Highschool, not far from some delinquent kids, Gauron stood and grinned. As he turned to walk back to the stairs, where a girl with short red hair stood, waiting for him, he chuckled to himself.

"Next time, Kashim…"

Fin

Author's Notes: Wow. Finished this a few days before SEED ended. I wanted the two to end at roughly the same time, since I was inspired (read: copied) by several parts of SEED…

But, yeah, I had a helluva' lot of fun writing this. That's what's important, isn't it? ^_^

I'd like to thank everyone who review and commented on this. I'd also like to thank everyone for putting up with my incompetence spelling wise. Like, when I put "soldier" when I mean "shoulder " or "sayd" instead of "said"…

I have no idea what I'll write next. I'd like to write a GTO fic but, since there isn't much of a fandom for that, that's iffy. Maybe another FMP fic or a Love Hina one. I dunno. Fruits Baskets is cool…

Or maybe I'll write a sequel. Heh. Fat chance.

So, uh, yeah. Thanks for reading and putting up with me for months and months. In the words of Éclair from Kiddy Grade… "Cha Chan!"


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